


The Chains of the Crown

by Aislinn_Fianna



Category: Hana Yori Dango & Related Fandoms, Hana Yori Dango | Boys Over Flowers (Anime & Manga), Hana Yori Dango | Boys Over Flowers (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-04-12 15:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 46,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4484855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aislinn_Fianna/pseuds/Aislinn_Fianna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Right after Tsukushi gets confronted with pictures spread through Eitoku of her and Thomas sleeping together she is chased by her classmates to 'educate' her. An old friend suddenly shows up to help her and causes a storm at the school for the rich and famous. She also seems to know the F4, but how is not immediately clear. And what is her connection with Soujiro? Will have Tsukushi/Tsukasa and Tsukushi/Rui and maybe an OC/Nishikaido or OC/Akira.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Raging storm

'I'm the weed Tsukushi! I won't go down this easily!' she thought as she headbutted one of her classmates who came after her. He staggered back and swayed a little like he was drunk, and then crashed in the thorny bushes on the side of the road. Good, one down....how many to go?!! There were just too much! At least eight guys were following her and she heard even more people screaming that they'd found her. Why did everyone care so much anyway? It wasn't even their goddamn-problem! She should just run all the way home for now. Yeah, home would be best, then she could wait until this storm had blown over.

No, she couldn't.

As she thought about Doumyouji's face when he saw the pictures....she had to explain everything to him. As far as she knew nothing happened between her and Thomas. Not to mention he acted really weird when she confronted him about it. Nothing could have happened.

"Get her!"

"Make sure she doesn't leave the grounds!"

"We'll make her pay for what she did to Domiouji!"

Aargh, why were all these people so dumb! It wasn't even their problem! "Just....leave me alone!" she yelled as she stopped, turned around and kicked the one who was screaming the loudest in the face. Another guy got a fist in his stomach, but the third and fourth guy managed to grab her.

"Hold her down!"

"I'm trying, but she's hella strong!"

"Let go!" she shrieked so loud a few of them covered their ears against the sound.

"I'll get her," one of the guys who stood in front of her said and he punched her flat on her face.

"Aaargh!"

That hurted! That guy was punching for real! Another blow got her stomach and her knees wobbled, making her unable to stand by herself. Was this it? Would she ever get out of this?

"Tch, you think you're all that huh?" the guy said as he got closer to her and grabbed a strand of her hair. "While in reality you're just a poor woman who thought she could use Doumyouji for her own means. How terrible."

“You played around with that foreinger right?” another guy said and he ripped her shirt open. “Why don't you play with us too?”

“Yeah, I might even pay you for it,” the first one said. “100 yen.”

"You...bastard...." she gritted between her teeth, "don't talk as if you know anything!" She jerked her head back and then jammed it forward. The clash with his head was so loud the guys who held her shuddered. The guy grabbed his head with both hands and staggered back, moaning something not understandable.

"What the hell is this?"

She licked the blood from her split lip and looked up. This didn't sound like a guy. Were the girls now also going to mingle in it? But the woman who stood in front of her didn't seem to be interested in her. Instead she looked at the guys who held her and the guys around her. And they all just kept gawking at the woman, who was, without a doubt, someone you just had to keep looking at if she walked past. But she didn't walk past. She stood there in the middle of the small plaza with her legs firmly planted on the ground, her arms crossed in front of her chest, chewing gum and taking them in one at a time.

"This school.... " the woman mumbled while chewing, "is pretty sick."

She blew a bubble of her gum, a light-pink coloured ball which grew the size of half her face before it popped. She sucked the gum in again and gently slid her hand through her painted blonde hair. It was tied up in a short tail, with the ends sticking in all directions. A few clips decorated her bangs, and when she walked even closer to the group they could all hear the chain that swung at her belt. Tight dark pants, with high heels in the same colour underneath. Above it a crop top the same colour as her gum, with ruffles which fluttered in the light breeze. She took a few more steps and when another strong breeze rushed over the plaza it made her long black coat flutter as well.

"And this stuff you're doing right now....is making me puke," the woman said as she flapped her coat around as she turned. The white fluffy fur seam of that suede coat looked very real; was she perhaps a rich girl attending this school as well?

"Shit, who's that?" one of the guys said and he backed away a little, looking like he had no idea what to make of this situation. So the woman did not attend this school? None of the guys around her seemed to recognize her. The woman blew a bubble of gum again and let it plop before she started to chew again.

"Tsukushi-chan, I'll take care of this trash first, after that we can talk," the woman said and she dashed away, letting the sun illuminate her sunglasses for a second. What? The fur brushed her cheek slightly, and only then did she realize she didn't feel the hands of the two guys who were holding her anymore. She looked over her shoulder and could hardly believe her eyes. Wha....they were both on the ground?

'Tsukushi-chan?' There weren't many people who called her that. Who was this woman? She looked aside and let out a breath of air. Geh! Almost all of them were on the ground already! The woman held the last guy by his collar and looked down on him with a detestful look on her face.  
"You," she said in a ice-cold tone of voice and the guy started to tremble.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't do it again!" he yelped like a defenseless child.

"Who asked you to do this?" Every syllable seemed to literally hit the guy as he winced with every word she spoke. Uwaah... talk about a presence. Who on earth was she?   
"N-No one, no one!" he yelled panicked. "But because she slept with a foreinger even though she is going out with Doumyouji was something no one could forgive, so that's why...."  
"That's why you had to follow one girl with eleven guys to beat her up?" the woman hissed. "Not to mention what you wanted to do to her... Are you bunch insane or what?!" The woman pushed him away and kicked him in his stomach so he smacked against the trashcan. "Trash should go in the trashcan," she said angry. "Let this be a lesson for you. If I catch you doing something like this again I'll personally kill you all."

"Yes....Ma'am...." the guy mumbled just before he lost consciousness.

"Don't worry, I didn't hit them too hard," the woman said as she walked towards her, her coat flapping around her. Gheh, would she be next?! It didn't seem like she would be able to beat this woman. But wait, the woman did beat up the other guys, so she couldn't be send by Domiouji...

"It's been some time Tsukushi-chan," the woman said as she pulled her up.

"Eh, yeah," she said surprised, brushing the sticks and dirt from her skirt. The woman had a foreign accent. Ah! She couldn't be friends with Thomas now could she?! "Ehm, sorry for asking, but who are you?"

"Eh? You mean to say you can't remember me?" the woman said surprised. She took her sunglasses off and put them on her head. Bight green eyes stared back at her, curious and amazed. "Even though I was the one who taught you that headbutt? You disappoint me Tsukushi-chan."

Headbutt? But the only one she ever learned some martial arts from was...

"No way! You couldn't be.....?! Layla?!"

The woman laughed and winked at her. That did the trick. That wink of hers she would recognize anywhere. "Nice to see you again Tsukushi-chan, although you were in quite a pinch just now. Is it always like this?"

"Eh? Oh eh, about that....it's worse today," she said and she sank on her knees again. Ah, that's right! She had no time to be happy, the whole school would be after her again!  
"Tell me," Layla said and she sat on her knees as well. "Tell me everything. I'll listen and think of a way to get you out of this mess."

"Layla...!" she said and she couldn't hold her tears any longer. "I'm so glad to see you again!" She fell in her arms and couldn't stop crying. It felt so good to have a friend by her side right now!

"Yoosh yoosh, now stop crying," Layla sighed as she patted her head. "That's not the Tsukushi-chan I know. You wouldn't get on your knees just from this now would you? Just tell me what happened, it doesn't matter how long it takes."

And so she told her everything. From the moment she entered this school and tried to stay quiet as she watched the F4 bully people whenever they wanted, to the moment she stood up for her friend and got bullied by them instead. She also told them how she ended up in their circle in a weird way and how Doumyouji and her were starting to get along better. And how it finally got destroyed by some pictures of her sleeping with a guy she'd only seen once before.

"Heh, so that's what has happened," Layla said with a deep frown in her forehead. She had listened to her without interrupting at all, and now she had told everything she felt empty. She had never been able to tell anyone everything, not even her parents or her friends. But now she'd told Layla everything she also felt a tiny bit relieved. To be able to tell someone her side of the story, and to someone who would believe her, did more good to her than she first thought. "But you sure have it though. You can't trust anyone in this school because they all want to use you for something. That sucks. But you are sure you didn't do it?"

"No, I'm sure," she said and she crunched her dress between her hands. "When I confronted Thomas about it he backed away and didn't want to answer me. He told me it wasn't his idea. And it wasn't like Sakurako denied it when I confronted her about it. She just smiled and said things were going to get worse for me from now on. That was enough for me. Nothing had happened. Although things are really... really bad right now..."

"I see. And who do you want to tell your story the most right now?"

"What?"

"You hate it that everyone doesn't believe you and chases you around, but my guess is that you are afraid a few people, or someone in particular, may be disappointed in you."

"That is....!" she said and she felt she was blushing.

Layla grinned and winked again. "I thought so. It's that Doumyouji-guy isn't it? Hmm, so as long as he believes you it's okay? That should be solved easily enough. Come on, let's go back to that dumb school."

"What are you going to do?"

"Me? I'm not going to do anything," Layla said and she pulled her coat straight. "I will make sure you are able to tell that guy what really happened. If he believes you or not it's up to him I guess. I just don't want anyone to get in the way. I'll kick them if that happens."


	2. Little doll hands

At first she was hesitant about going back inside, but Layla just took her wrist and walked right through the main entrance! The air she seemed to radiate was unbelievable, as everyone immediately looked at her but didn't dare to come close. She just had the most arrogant look anyone could ever imagine and her glare send a few girls who were blocking the hallway to the sides so they could easily pass. The only sound you could hear in the further dead silent hallway was the sound of their shoes and the fluttering of Layla's coat as they passed. Uwaah, this felt so suffocating! After the first reactions of her classmates yesterday she had no idea what would happen to her today, if she would even be able to speak to him...

"Ah! It's her!"one of the girls from her class said when they passed them in the hallway and she heard the dispise in her voice. Dammit, it wasn't even her business, so what's with the arrogant attitude of those bitches! She wanted to shout it out loud, but that wouldn't do much good. They wouldn't listen to her anyway.

"Let's get her!" one of the guys said angry, but he did a step back when Layla looked at him, a fiery look in her eyes that made her shudder.

"Sure, just try," she snapped. "I'll send you flying through the window if you do. Head-first."

"Wha..." he backed away even more and the other guys also backed away. Whoa, Layla's presence here sure made it easy to walk through the school. Everyone was terrified of her. Could be because of her clothes: she wore an unusual amount of black and leather, not the usual school uniform. Not to mention that cool coat...

Or maybe not everyone was scared of her.

"I'm not afraid of you," one particularily big guy said and he slammed his fists together. "And I don't mind hitting girls."

"Oh? What a coincidence," Layla said with an evil grin on her face. "Cause I don't mind hitting guys as well. Tsukushi-chan, step aside please. This one is going to fly."

"Right!" She hastily jumped to the side. The big guy crunched his knuckles again and walked closer to Layla, who didn't move an inch.

“With that attitude and that girl beside you, it seems you need to be taught a lesson,” he grumbled and the cracking of his knuckles could be heard through the whole hallway.

“Oh?” Layla said, sounding awfully lazy and uninterested. “You've never seen me before, you don't even know my name. And yet you already have your opinion of me and want to 'get' me. Are you perhaps mental?”

“You bitch, you won't be talking so arrogant when I'm finished with you,” the big guy grumbled as he slammed his fists together, getting in some sort of fighting position.

"Aha, Daiki will take her down," one of the guys next to her grinned. "I wonder how long it will take him."

"Don't know, wanna bet?" the guy on the other side of her said. "I'll bet one minute."

"One minute? I'll bet ten seconds," the first guy snickered.

"I'll bet three seconds," she said as she looked at them with a confident smile on her face, obviously confusing them. "Within three seconds Layla will send him flying."

"Hmpf!" Daiki muttered when he tried to punch Layla. She stepped aside to evade his punch her coat fluttered, and she grabbed the arm he used to punch. She pulled it even harder, making him lose his balance. Then she turned her back to him, jerking his arm into a lock and making him lose his footing even further. With an Ippon she flipped him over her shoulder and he flew, literally flew through the air a bit before he hit the wall right between her and one of the guys from the bet. Layla'd just missed him by a few centimetres and he was still shaking as he looked down on Daiki, who lay in a heap on the ground and didn't move anymore.

"I guess that's that," Layla sighed. "I held back on you, just so you know. It could have been the window as well, but us being on the first floor and all... It would have bashed your skull. I don't intend on killing anyone while I'm here. Makes such a mess...”

The guy just groaned. He still wasn't back on his feet and just lay there, his hands strangely moving over the ground, as if he had to find footing to get up again. “Hey you, big fella on the ground,” Layla said, “Next time you want to challenge me, make sure you bring your will. I won't hold back then.” She then turned and looked at the guys and girls around her. "You know what this means. Then move. I'm very cranky today."

Her classmates and schoolmates looked at each other once, then they all ran away, yelling and shouting some things she couldn't understand. Although the words 'police' and 'criminal' seemed to be popping up quite a lot. Layla didn't seem to be surprised at all and just looked at the sign near the stairs.

"You said the cafeteria was just up ahead right?”

“Uhm yeah,” she said, suddenly imagining the disgusted look Doumyouji could give her. What if he did? Yesterday when he saw the pictures... He did walk away with Sakurako... What if he really didn't want to talk to her again? What would she do then? Layla was with her now, but what about tomorrow? No, don't think about that. Right now she needed to tell him, tell him everything.

“This is the cafeteria right?” Layla's voice pulled her back from her thoughts and she suddenly realized they were indeed standing in the cafeteria, and everyone was looking at her. She immediately knew why: the photo's of Thomas and her also hung on the board behind the counter of the cafeteria. The glares and disapproval that seemed to drip from their faces was so clear she almost felt it on her skin. Urgh, she needed to get this misunderstanding cleared up as soon as possible...

“Hmpf, pathetic,” Layla said as she walked behind the counter, ignoring the canteen lady who tried to stop her, and ripped the photos from the wall, looking at them with so much disdain she got goosebumps again. “If I ever found out who did this, or who ordered this,” she said in a low voice so only the people closest to them could hear, “I swear I will do something a lot worse than these photos, you can count on that.” The canteen lady, who at first wanted to push her out, now just easily let her pass, and unreadable look on her face as Layla took all the photos with her. “Where were those guys you said?” she asked when they were together again.

“Up there,” she said and she pointed to the first floor, where she could just see Akira's back.

“Okay, then let's go,” Layla said as she just casually walked up the stairs like she owned the place, ignoring the rope with the sign that hung at the bottom of the stairs. She followed Layla close behind, and when they were on the first floor she took the lead and swallowed a few times before she walked to their table. At one glance she saw Doumyouji wasn't there. And Sakurako wasn't either.

"Oh, look who we have here," Akira said when he saw her. "You should run Maki-chan, Tsukasa is pretty pissed. Isn't that right Soujirou? Soujirou?"

Soujirou however didn't react. Instead he kept looking at her with a piercing stare that send chills down her spine, his fork somewhere between his plate and his mouth. Why was he looking at her like that?!

No, it wasn't her he was looking at, she realized when his gaze seemed to linger a little above her head. "Lay...la?" he said surprised and his fork clattered on his plate. Very unlike him. "It is you right? Layla?"

"Nice to see you again Soujirou," Layla said polite and she nodded at him. Huh? How did they know each other?

"You know each other?" Akashi asked and he pointed from Soujirou to Layla.

"You know each other?" Soujirou asked and he looked from her to Layla and back again.

"Both questions can be answered with a yes," Layla said with a smile. "Soujirou has been a client of our company a few times. I know Tsukushi-chan from when we were kids. But I thought we were here for more important business."

"Y-yes," she said when she realized with a shock she hadn't thought about Doumyouji at all since they came here. Maybe that was because he wasn't here. Where was he?

"Ah, Tsukasa will be back soon," Akira said. "But he didn't look too happy. Maki-chan, whatever happened with that foreigner, you need to explain it or Tsukasa will get furious. We can guarantee that isn't a good thing."

"I came here just to do that," she said and she got angry. "I came here to say that nothing has happened with Thomas!"

"Thomas? Is that his name?" Akashi asked. "But why would he go through all that trouble if nothing has happened?"

"A good question," Layla suddenly said and she gestured with her head to the left. "And I think he wants to hear that too."

With an odd clump in her stomach she noticed Domiouiji was coming. Gheh, he had Sakurako with him. That was something she didn't need right now. And that evil smile on her face told her the girl would try and make it as hard as possible to get the truth out.

"That's her isn't it?" she heard Layla whisper and she nodded. "Don't worry, I'll take care of that. You make sure you can tell your side of the story to him."

"Ah! It's Tsukushi-chan!" Sakurako said (like she hadn't already seen her) and she grabbed Doumyouji's arm. "Tsukushi, why are you here? You should know how much you hurted him!"

"Yeah, and that's where I'll stop the side-act," Layla said, obviously annoyed.

She felt a strong push against her back and she stumbled towards Doumyouji, who could barely catch her before she would fall.

"Tell him," she heard Layla say. "And make sure you tell everything."

"Doumyouji-san?" Sakurako said hesitant, trying as hard as she could to act cute and adorable. Uch, what a fake. She still couldn't believe Sakurako was such a mean person.

"What?" he asked. But he didn't look at Sakurako. It was her he was looking at and she quickly stood on her own two feet, feeling embarrassed again.

"Euhm, yeah, I need to talk to you," she said and she felt her legs getting wobbly. Ohw, why did she feel like this right now? She needed to get it together. "And I don't want to do that with other people around."

"Tsukushi, you shouldn't.....try to talk things right," Sakurako said and she sounded like she had difficulty with what she was going to say. Of course she didn't find it hard. She probably enjoyed doing this. "Because....it isn't right, and I..."

"Yeah, I said I would stop the side-act here." Layla grabbed Sakurako's wrist and nodded to her. "You should go somewhere else. I'll make sure this brat is not going anywhere."

"Ouch! What are you doing? Who are you? Let me go, you're hurting me!" Sakurako said and she wriggled to get herself free. She knew that was a useless effort. If Layla had someone in a grip, that person would stay there until she thought they should be released. Although she got crazy strong since the last time they met. Layla didn't even seem to budge. How many years had it been?

"Doumyouji, please. I want to talk to you," she said quickly and she grabbed his sleeve.

“Hmm, fine, then talk,” he said curtly as he turned around and walked away, without casting another glance at Sakurako. She quickly walked after him, and after a short look over her shoulder she saw that Layla still firmly held Sakurako in place. Good, she wouldn't come and try to disturb their conversation. Now she could tell everything.

* * *

  
"Ouch! Let me go!" Sakurako yelled when Tsukushi-chan and Doumyouji had disappeared from the cafeteria. Indeed did she release the girl. To throw her in a chair next to Soujirou. The chair banged against the table and the drinks got spilled over the expensive damast tablecloth.

"I'll let you go all right," she whispered and she used a threatening tone that made Sakurako sit up straight immediately.

"Soujirou-kun..." she said and she looked at him with helpless deer-like eyes.

"Soujirou will not help you at the moment," she hissed and she put one hand on the table behind her so their faces were really close. "And the other guy will not point a finger in this direction as well. Right now I'm the one in control, not you. Probably something you're not accustomed to, since you've been playing everyone around in your tiny little doll-hands."

"I-I...I have no idea what you're talking about," she stammered and she started to cry.

"Oi, Layla...." Soujirou started to say, but an angry glare of her made him stop talking.

"Not now. I'm busy." She grabbed Sakurako's uniform and pulled her a little from the chair. "And you better stop crying, or I'll truly give you a reason to cry." That seemed to work, she stopped immediately. "You know, I'm actually sorry that we aren't able to do this without someone around," she sighed. "This is getting boring pretty quick. I want to see what's behind the doll-face you've plastered on like an expert. Yesterday you showed Tsukushi-chan a rather different side of you didn't you?"

"I...I have no idea what you're talking about," she said and she started to cry again.

"No? Well, let me make this clear to you," she said as she pulled her up, so her feet were from the floor.

"It can't be...” she huffed, she had a little trouble breathing because she held her by the collar. “A....you're maffia?" she said. "Tsukushi...has send maffia after me? But why....I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Pff, you're extremely annoying you know," she sighed again, letting go of the girl in the process. “I'm her friend, and if I see that my friend is trapped inside a stuck-up school with only lies and traitors around her, I get angry. Definitely because she thought she finally had a real close friend to her who she could trust. But she couldn't trust you, isn't that right?"

"No, she couldn't," she continued before Sakurako could react. "Because the reason you got close to her was for your own reasons, not because you geniunely liked her. You had to get close to Doumyouji for your own selfish reasons, and because Tsukushi was in the way, you cleaned her out."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she yelled completely panicked. "I haven't done anything!"

"No? Then let me make it clear to you," she said and she grabbed the photo she'd ripped from the cafeteria wall. "See this? Thomas and Tsukushi-chan are in the picture together. An idiot would think they slept together, but a normal person would think there's something strange about this photo. Now what is it?"

"I don't know!" she yelled.

“Wait a minute...” The guy next to Soujirou seemed to be getting it, as he looked at the picture with a lot more concentration than before.

“Yeah, they're both in the picture,” she said as she looked at the guy. "Neither Thomas or Tsukushi-chan could've taken this photo, it's too far away. So who's the person who took the photo? And there's something else. The feeling Tsukushi-chan described after waking up were the same as when someone's drink has been spiked with tranquilizer or GHB. I don't know which one of the two she got from your dear friend Thomas, but her drink got spiked for sure. So here's another question that popped up after she told me that: who had provided Thomas with the drugs? He couldn't have bought it himself, Tsukushi-chan told me he didn't work. He said you were the one taking care of him. So, one plus one plus one, seems to me we're getting right back at you here little doll.”

“You're just saying that because you're Tsukushi-sempai's friend!” Sakurako shouted and she started crying again.

"You're despicable," she said and she threw her down in the chair again. "If you had been pretending to be my friend you would be hanging upside down in the cafeteria by now, but I'm afraid I can't decide that."

She had expected the girl to break down, but not to this extent. She fell from the chair and just kept crying, her mascara a complete mess. That wasn't what was supposed to happen, that dumb doll had to say she did it. Damn it, not the way she wanted it, not by far.

“Layla, I don't think you'll get what you want from her now, so can you please let it slide?” Soujirou sighed as he bowed down to Sakurako to hand her a handkercief. She looked up, almost begging, but a foot between her and Soujirou made her back away quickly.

“I already told you he isn't going to help you,” she mumbled as she put her boot back on the ground. “You're alone in this doll-chan, and you deserve it. And besides Soujirou, let it slide? What the hell are you talking about?”

Now it was his turn to be surprised, but she put a hand right next to his plate and glared down at him. “Don't think you're innocent in this. You're one of the four, and a hell of a lot smarter than the guy that just walked away. You could've know Tsukushi-chan would never do something like that, and at least tell that guy. But you didn't, moreover, you let her be chased by at least ten guys? One single girl?”

“I... I didn't know about that,” he replied, not breaking eye-contact. “Most of the times that lot just do as they please.”

“Don't bullshit me,” she snapped. “You're the ones in control here, so act like a damn caretaker and take care of this zoo. You don't bully one person with everyone, it's a disgrace and disgusting. I would have expected something more of you.”

“Oi, the red card thing is something Doumyouji came up with, we just followed along,” the guy next to him said. “It's something to do while we're at school, else it will get too boring.”

“Then you're even more pathetic than him, following his childish ways,” she said, starting to get angrier the more she talked with them.

“Layla, what we do or not do at this school is not up to you to criticize,” Soujirou said calmly as he stood up. “Frankly speaking, you have no right to mingle in the students business. You can try and protect Maki-chan, but she will always be someone without money. And the other students regard having money highly. We have nothing to do with that. Even without the existence of a red card it would still happen. The only thing we did was create a game around it, following strict rules.”

“You...” she said flabbergasted. “Are you really telling me to butt out? And even say I am wrong in protecting my friend? Are you crazy?!”

“I don't think it's particularily wrong to protect your friend,” he sighed, “but if you protect her now she will never be able to make it here. You're here today, and you can protect her. What of tomorrow? If Maki-chan defends herself tomorrow it will not be a problem, but if you do it... They will just come after her again.” He grabbed his coat from a coathanger near their table and slipped it on. “If she told Doumyouji he will believe her, so don't hurt Sakurako any more,” he continued. “Maki-chan should also deal with Sakurako herself if what you said is true. That is also what I believe is the right way.”

“Fine,” she said angry, “Be a wimp and hide behind money-arguments. Cause in the end that's all that matters to some people. I will show you how it's really done.”

She stomped away, leaving them behind. Soujirou... had changed. And a lot at that. She had never expected him to be such a follower. And those stupid rules they created... A game?! Were they out of their minds?!

As she marched through the hallways, scaring people here and then, she frowned. They didn't have to be that afraid of her. The only thing she'd done was throwing someone on his ass. And he'd deserved it. Definitely. The all had to be thrown on their asses, with that attitude they had going on here, tch...

“But that chick was crazy huh?”

She slowed down her pace when she heard the voices. They seemed to be talking inside one of the classrooms...?

“Yeah, she tossed Daiki in the air man! In the air! That guy is ridiculously huge.”

“Well, he won't be having such a big mouth after he got defeated by a girl.”

“Yeah, but Makino still walks around freely thanks to that bitch.”

“Don't worry, it's not like she'll be here every day right? We'll get her tomorrow.”

“Hmpf, yeah right, it's about time the game started again. We've been too nice to her lately.”

“True, I mean, she's so lowclass, why does she even think she can just come and attend school here? She doesn't belong here.”

“No she doesn't, but what we did until now had no effect, so...”

“We'll just have to be a little 'nicer' then.”

“Like she should be around the F4!”

“She has no right!”

“Yeah, exactly!”

Those people.... She gritted her teeth so loud she was almost sure they would be able to hear it inside. She crunched her fists, but let them relax when she walked past and looked inside. They were all standing in a circle, and laughing at that! All of them were in on this?! Everyone just thought it was fine to hurt a girl to this extend?!

'Money is everything in this school'

Soujirou's words rang clearly through her head as she walked outside, trying to evade as much of the students as possible. Was it really that bad at this stuck-up school? Couldn't she do anything to turn this around, to help Tsukushi-chan?

'She has to defend herself'

Aargh, why did it seem like Soujirou's ramblings were making too much sense right now?! She looked at the glass of the botanic garden and saw her angry reflection, looking like she wanted to break something. It had been some time since she'd felt like this.

Powerless.

Literally the whole school was against her friend, plotting to get her out. Dammit, how did this happen? What did that girl ever do so wrong to deserve this?

No, she knew of course. Because she was different. Tsukushi-chan was no follower, she would go her own way. And that was probably also the reason she clashed with the F4, and how she eventually got involved with Doumyouji. Trouble like this would probably keep coming, and people would keep being annoyed at them being together.

“The power of money huh,” she mumbled as she pressed her head against the cool glass. That was not a gap she as an outsider could simply close. She thought about Soujirou's face when he'd said 'Maki-chan' had to defend herself.

He was right. Even though she didn't want to admit it, he was right. She could hit every person in this school, but that wasn't going to change anything. They would just get back at Tsukushi-chan the day after, or the day after that...

She sighed deep, and then a few more times before she turned around to look for Soujirou. That was bad form of her, really bad form. No matter how angry she was, she should've been able to see it as well. Instead she just stormed inside and tried to take on the whole stupid school without thinking.

But then again... to be completely blind and deaf to everything while dealing with the troubles of a friend.... couldn't be too bad right?


	3. Then and now

"Ah, it's the violent girl from before," the guy next to Soujirou said when she'd found them in one of the rose gardens that surrounded the school.

"Yeah, hi," she said as she sat down next to them on the bench, just looking straight ahead.

"So... who did you beat up this time?" The casual way in which Soujirou asked her almost made her want to hit  _him_.

"I didn't hit anyone okay?" she said irritated.

"Oh, I had to ask," he said not too interested. "Since you looked like you were going to throw anyone that would get within twenty feet of you."

"I was. And I still feel like that," she mumbled, trying to get to the point she wanted to get to. "But that doesn't solve any of Tsukushi-chan's problems. I'm sorry about just now Soujirou," she sighed, even feeling a little dumb now she actually sat next to him. "I was so heated up about what had happened to Tsukushi-chan that I literally blamed everything and everyone. I shouldn't have said that to you for starters."

"Ah, that is not a problem," he said with a slight smile, gesturing to one of the servants that came to them to bring his coat to the car. "I also said things that I... well, they did not come out quite right. Although it is true I believe Maki-chan needs to take care of herself. If she doesn't, she will have a hard time being with Tsukasa and the rest of us."

"I guess," she mumbled a little absentmindedly.

"Although it doesn't need to be more complicated than it is. If she has a problem and comes to me, I will crash back in here with everything I have, be it right or wrong."

He had to laugh at that. "Some things will never change about you," he eventually said, " I can't say I dislike that. However, please keep in mind that this school has some reputation to uphold. And keep your family away from these small problems as much as possible. They tend to be quite..."

"I know. Like I would ask my family to solve a problem like this."

"True."

Then it got silent between the two of them, and as they sat there in the late sunlight she compared the him from back then with who he was now. In some ways he hadn't changed much. Appearance-wise he was almost identical to when they first met. Although... his face was finer, like someone had erased all the childish features, his round cheeks, the big dark eyes... they were smaller now, and his jaw was sharply outlined above his collar.

"You do realize you're staring at me?" Only now did she notice he was also looking back at her, still that slight smile on his face.

"I'm comparing," she mumbled as she just bluntly kept staring.

"And?"

"It's strange," she said as she crooked her head to the side, as if she would see it better or different that way. "On the one hand you haven't changed at all, and I would recognize you amongst thousands. But looking closer I can see a lot has changed, and you seem more like a stranger to me. Really, really strange."

"Oh? To me it feels like I'm talking to a different person," he said and his gaze lingered a little above her eyes. "You have changed both on the inside and outside, to a point it took me a few seconds to realize who you were."

"Ah, you mean the hair," she mumbled as she played with a blonde strand of it. "I had to do that for a job to look more like a Westener."

"It suits you. Although I liked you long dark hair better."

"Makes two of us," she sighed as she tossed the strand over her shoulder. "I feel so alienated now I'm in Japan again. Everyone just keeps staring."

"If you behaved like a yankee like you did here I would understand it more or less...ouch!" He rubbed his shoulder where she'd hit him.

"I already told you that was because I found out my best friend was being humiliated in front of everyone. That would make anyone's blood boil."

"Euhm, hate to interrupt you two, but who on earth are you exactly?" the light-haired guy almost hung over Soujirou to look at her, squashing his neat haircut flat.

"Ah, I guess I forgot to introduce myself properly as well," she mumbled.

"She's Layla Ruizaki," Soujirou replied before she could. "You know her as well Akira, she was with us for more than a year during grade school. Although she wore long frilly dresses and had long dark hair back then."

"Layla..." Akira mumbled thoughtful, obviously thinking hard. Then he got an -aha!- look on his face and smiled. "I remember you! You were with Soujirou all the time back then! I can't believe I didn't recognize you!"

"Well, I didn't recognize you either,"she said as she shook hands. "Good to see you again Mimasaka."

"It's Akira. A-ki-ra," he replied. "You've been with us for so long, might as well call us by our first names right Nishikaido?" "I don't particularily mind, but Layla might be more comfortable using our last names. She also did that when she was with me."

"Really?" "Well, it's preferred by the family's,' she said, "since most of the people I know have also been clients of us at some point."

"Ah, I don't care, just call me Akira," he shrugged. "And don't you dare say anything else."

"Right then... .Akira it is," she mumbled, seeing he nodded content when hearing it. "But I can't believe you're suddenly here again!" he said. "Not after you suddenly disappeared... Right after that party... what happened?"

"Work," she replied not too interested. "My father had a job for me and needed me to go there immediately. My apologies for not properly saying goodbye then, but the next morning I was already in a plane headed to America."

"He likes to send you far away," Soujirou mumbled.

"He sends me where I'm needed, just like the rest of my family," she said. "But let's not talk about my work right now, I'm finally back and not needed on the job for a while. I'd rather talk about you guys. I mean, when I last checked there were 4, and everyone in school still talks about the F4 but... where is he? Hanazawa Rui? I didn't see him anywhere all day."

"Ah, Rui has left and went to France," Akira said with a bright smile. "That bastard finally stepped up and followed Shizuka. I never thought he would do it, but Maki-chan convinced him to go."

"Really? Whoa, and to France of all places. And Shizuka went there as well? I saw the advertisements in the city, they looked great. Aw, too bad I missed her here. I planned on going to her house in the weekend, but I guess that is useless now."

"You can go to Paris if you want to visit, she'll be happy to see you," Soujirou said.

"Yeah, I just got back from America, I think I'll stay here for a while," she mumbled. "And I need to follow some school anyway, I'd rather do that in Japan. The government keeps nagging to my family my education needs to come first."

"School is not that bad," Akira said. "It's a good place to relax before you have to do stuff you don't really like."

"I guess that just about sums up your life huh?" she grinned. The bells in the school rung and she looked at her watch: it was five o'clock already. Where was Tsukushi-chan?

"But they sure are taking their sweet time talking it over," she sighed. "I wanted to invite Tsukushi-chan to our house, my family is dying to meet her and her parents again. Where is she?"

Akira only shrugged and pointed to the entrance, where the cars of Soujirou and him were already waiting for them. "Tsukasa took off with her, talking about getting rid of that dirt," he mumbled, a grin on his face. "That sneaky bastard... so he's finally getting his way huh?"

"What are you talking about?" She felt a funny bubble in her stomach coming up. Doumyouji... had taken Tsukushi to his mansion?

"Nah, he wouldn't do that," Soujirou mumbled. "He's too green for that."

"That?" she said as she stood up, slowly feeling the panic spread through her whole body. Tsukushi and him, that... no way, she wouldn't want that... right? Or did she? That Doumyouji seemed like a pushy guy, he could...

"Layla, he would do nothing indecent to her," Soujirou said. "Just let them be. No matter how clumsy he is, when it comes to girls he's completely innocent. He won't do anything."

"And I just have to take your word for that," she said as she shook her head and started pacing around."No matter what he's still a guy, and quite a big one at that. Even if Tsukushi does things her own way and doesn't easily give in, still..."

"He won't." Soujirou did seem convinced, but still...

"How do you know for sure?" she said. "He hangs around with you does he not?"

"True, but we're different than him," Akira said with a confident smile. "We like women. Tsukasa usually just thinks they're annoying."

"Just let it go Layla, Maki-chan kicked Tsukasa in the head when she got red-tagged by him," Soujirou sighed. "She's a strong woman, she will do what she wants to do."

"Yes, she looks a little like Tsukasa's sis doesn't she?" Akira said as he also got up. "Well, I gotta go. I have a beautiful madame waiting for me at the Imperial Hotel. Can't keep her waiting for too long."

"Whoah, madame? She is married? That's so immoral," Soujirou mumbled.

"Immoral? No way, my love for her is pure," Akira sighed. "Besides, I'm not like you, who keeps a collection."

"I do not," Soujirou frowned. "I'm dating just one girl right now."

"Right, I do not want to be part of this conversation any longer," she sighed. "I'm going home biting my nails and hitting my head against a closet until tomorrow."

"Hey Layla-chan," Akira said and he winked, "even if we play around a lot, Tsukasa doesn't. So even if something happens... "

"That's no consolation!" she shouted as he walked to his dark Mercedes.

"Well, I have my own date to get to," Soujirou said as he motioned his driver could start the white Audi. "It was... interesting to see you again Layla. Until we meet next time."

"Yeah, until next time," she mumbled absentmindedly. She watched as the two cars drove off, and eventually just sighed and stared at the sky. Would Tsukushi be okay? She was a strong woman, but strong enough to survive in the world of the rich and wealthy? If she thought about what had happened to her thusfar... But...

"She cared," she mumbled to herself. "She cared about that guy's opinion, not about the rest of the school. And that look she gave him when they walked away..."

She sighed and grabbed her phone. Four numbers on speed dial, and she chose the third one. "Ah Yoru?... Hmm, this trip was... quite interesting yes... no I'm not into any trouble, I can handle a few rich kids... Hmm, can you come and pick me up at Ishikaya?... Yeah, thanks, bye bye."

She then pressed on the first number and let it ring. "Heey... yes I'm fine, I met Tsukushi-chan today... no, she couldn't come today, but maybe tomorrow... yeah, about that school, I'm at Eitoku right now, and Tsukushi also goes here... yes, could you make a phonecall? Thanks! Okay, I'm coming home now, Yoru is picking me up... yes, see you at the dinertable... bye bye."

Pfff. Only two days back in Japan and already this much was happening. And this school... Maybe she needed to hang around a little longer.


	4. Protected against anything

"Hmmm..." She really didn't want to wake up yet... And the soft bed was so comfortable... She turned again and bit her lip when she felt the wounds from yesterday. It hurted... Those dumb classmates. If Layla hadn't kicked them down who knows what could have happened... She shivered and crawled even deeper in the sheets. It smelled good, like mint with lavendel...

Wait a minute. Mint? Lavendel? Her bed didn't smell like that... She lazily opened one eye and looked at the ceiling. A very high ceiling. A ceiling with a... chandelier?! She sat up quickly and looked around. This room... wasn't her room?! It looked like...

'Wait! I'm ok! Put me down. I said, put me down!'

'I won't put you down. Now that I finally caught you... I won't let you go. Besides... you can't go home like this right?'

That was...right, Tsukasa had taken her to his home and ordered his maids to help her. All those women that wanted to help her bathe and dress her... It was so different than what she was used to. A marble bathtub, towels so soft as puppy's and the most expensive bath lotion on the planet. And as she lay there covered in delicious smelling soap, she only thought of Tsukasa. He had said he believed her... she really cried her heart out back then. After all that had happened, all the people who immediately judged her without hearing her story, all the people who didn't believe a thing she said and just made up their own stories... It felt so good hearing him say that... And when he hugged her it felt like she was protected against anything and anyone...

She fell back in the pillows of her bed and thought about yesterday evening again. After she had bathed and dressed she was brought to Tsukasa's room, where he'd taken care of the wounds she had gotten from those bastards. He had been so kind then, saying that he would take full responsibility for any scars she would get, saying he was sorry over and over again.

Of course right after that she'd thrown a pillow at his face because he dared to ask about Thomas. Idiot. Of course she wouldn't do it with a foreinger just like that, grrr... But when she remembered how he said he had been jealous she felt her cheeks getting hot.

'I love you'

He'd said he loved her. When she replayed the moment he'd said that in her head, how he'd looked at her... her cheeks were only getting hotter when she thought about what had happened next. He had kissed her, and even though she'd said to wait, he hadn't. And maybe deep down.. she'd wanted it to happen as well. His kiss had been so soft and gentle, so unlike how he usually was she had lost herself in the moment. Only when they broke apart again and looked at each other they got extremely red. After that she had gone to her own room, but not without hearing Tsukasa say she shouldn't take what he said too lightly.

He really... liked her? And she even let him kiss her... what was she doing exactly? Did she like him as well?

A knock on her door made her sit up again and two maids entered, bringing her breakfast. They also brought her a new uniform and told her Tsukasa had ordered it for her.

"Wow really? I have to thank him. Where is he?"

"The young master has already left ma'am," one of the maids said. "He was shouting something about revenge and then left."

"Re-venge?" she stammered. Oh no! She stumbled out of bed and quickly grabbed the uniform the maid held out for her. As her hand was on the doorknob of the bathroom she heard her phone ring. Would it be her parents?! She couldn't not take it, they would be suspicious but... what would she say?!

"He-helloo? Tsukushi speaking?"

"Ah Tsukushi-chan? Glad I got to you."

"Layla? How do you know this number?"

"Haha Tuskushi-chan, how cute. Of course I would know your number if I wanted it. But that's not important now. You haven't spoken to your parents right?"

"Ehm no, I... wait, you know I'm not at home?"

"I know about everything," Layla said in a hurry. "I know you've been taken to Doumyouji's mansion and that you stayed the night. I called your parents and told them I was there as well and that we had a girl-talk that lasted the whole night, so match up to my story if they call you. You're still at his mansion?"

"Uhm yes, But Layla..."

"Good, then I'll come and get you right now, stay put."

After that the connection went dead and she just stared at her cellphone for a while before she tossed it on the bed and quickly dressed herself. She was enjoying the last part of her five-star breakfast when one of the maids came to tell her Layla had arrived. She quickly ran downstairs, where she saw the blonde hair and the long black coat with fur talking to one of the butlers of the mansion.

"Layla!" She turned around and laughed at her. "Good morning Tsukushi-chan, good to see you being energetic again. Did you sleep well?"

"Uhm yeah," she stammered as she looked at the car that stood waiting for them in front of the door. Uwaaah, a limousine?! Layla had one of those as well?!

"Good, then we may depart," she said as she walked in front of her to the car. A man in a neat suit held the door for them and Layla thanked him shortly before she stepped inside. She hesitantly followed Layla, and gasped when she saw the interior of the limousine. It was so luxurious! Beautiful brown leather seats that bounced a little when you sat on it, tinted windows which gave the space an intimate feeling, a mini-bar with refridgerator, a tv-screen in front right behind the driver, there was even a Playstation inside!

"To Eitoku High School I presume?" the driver asked through a window that connected the driver's space to the back.

"Yes, and step on it please," Layla said as she leaned back in the couch. Whoah, she looked amazing again. A dark-blue off-shoulder top with black stars on it, and underneath short black pants, of which one half looked like a skirt with ruffles. Ankleboots with small silver chains completed her amazing outfit, as well as a small silver chain around her neck with a Lotus on it.

"That's an amazing outfit you have," she said and Layla looked down.

"Really? I seriously had no idea what to wear today, I have been pacing up and down in my room almost all night. What the hell happened after school?" she asked bluntly. "Soujirou and Akira said Doumyouji brought you to his home, but after that I don't know a thing."

Just thinking about it made her head turn a beet red again and she didn't want to look at Layla's penetrating stare. She still heard the 'I love you' through her head, af if someone had put it on repeat...

"Don't tell me... you did it?"

"N... what? No! We didn't go that far!" she shouted angrily. Uhm... did she just...?

"Hooo, so you did so something," Layla said with a sly smile on her face. "Thought as much. You looked way too squirrily when I saw you coming down those stairs. It's strange no matter how you look at it, unless something happened. And it did. So? How was it? Who did what?"

"L-layla!" she shouted embarrassed. "You shouldn't ask things like that so casually!"

"Oh, can't I?" she said surprised. "I'm just curious though. Since it doesn't seem he did anything you didn't want... I can finally relax. Won't you tell me a little?"

"Well... a little... I guess," she said blushing fiercely. Luckily only Layla was around, and she had closed the window to the driver, so maybe just a little...? Layla had put her boot on the seat and let her head rest on it, waiting eagerly for her story. Somehow... it felt a lot like when they were little... So she just told her everything.

"And then uhm... he wanted to... .he wanted to kiss me... and I, I said to wait, but he didn't... and when... when our lips touched I... didn't want it to stop... And even though he held me so strongly, his kiss was... was very gentle..." She laughed a little silly and knocked herself on the head. "That is... pretty strange right? To say no and then just let it all happen... Why did I do that? Aha haha.."

When she looked up she saw Layla looking at her, a strange smile on her lips and a slightly reddish face.

"Aah... that sounds... pretty great to me," she said, leaning her head on her knee. "For a guy like that to be so careful with you, he must care about you a lot more than he shows. I'm jealous..."

"Ano... I don't think, I eh... I really don't know," she said slightly panicked.

"There's no need to 'know'," Layla sighed as she looked up at the ceiling of the limo, closing her eyes against the lights that shone in her face. "You just have to... feel, right? Even if you don't know now, you will in the future. And if that is a few days, weeks or months, who cares? Just take your own pace finding out if you like that guy. If he really likes you... well, he'll wait until you're ready right?"

"Wow, Layla..." she said as she looked at her friend. Everything she just said... was so wise, like she was years older than her. How could she know that? How could she understand so well? "Layla... did you perhaps... have a boyfriend?"

"Eh, what?" Gone was the completely relaxed mood she was in just a few seconds ago, and she stared at her. Then she burst out laughing. "No way! Me, a boyfriend?! Get out Tsukushi-chan!"

"W-what?! Is it that strange?" she stammered flustered.

"No, I most definitely not have or had a boyfriend," she grinned. "Like I would have the time to keep one. I would feel sorry for the guy, since I'm not at home a lot."

"But you... you said it so well.."

"Ah, I feel flattered," she smiled, "but I'm afraid it's not from my personal experience. Let's just say... it's because of the things I see around me? But I'm serious Tsukushi, if he's really like you say, then he'll wait until you know. Don't sweat it. You can't force your feelings, but you can guide them right? Just go on a date with him a few times, see how it feels. If you feel you want more, well, that will be a clear signal right?"

"A... date," she mumbled. "Yeah, not like that last one..." "Ho-hoo... you've been on a date already? Tell me, tell me!" Layla now almost seemed to shine and she laughed a little. Talking to a friend like this, a real friend, felt really good...

* * *

 

"Miss, we have arrived," the driver spoke through the speaker next to the window.

"Oh, already?" Layla said disappointed. "I was enjoying your story so much I completely forgot the time! But to believe you actually held a leek around his neck as you sat in the elevator the whole night haha, amazing girl you are."

"He did feel better after that," she defended herself, but couldn't help but smile when she saw Layla grinning. The driver opened the door of the limousine and they stepped outside. Immediately she saw everyone look at them, and people started to whisper amongst themselves as well.

"Look! It's that girl again that fought with Daiki yesterday!"

"And Makino is with her as well!"

"She has a driver and limousine? So she is rich?"

"Her coat is from a well-known designer as well, I told you yesterday. She's a rich girl."

"But she fights? Then who on earth is she? And she knows Makino, she told everyone they were friends."

"With that poor person? That low-class? How?"

"Uwaaah... everyone is talking about us again," she mumbled uncomfortable. Would this ever stop?

"So? They're not important anyway," Layla said without too much interest. "Besides, we need to meet up with Doumyouji to make sure he tells everyone the same story as I told your parents. It will not be good for the both of you if this gets blown up even more than it already is. And for your image it will also be bad if you just went on one date with the guy and stayed the whole night."

"Eh Layla, is it really that bad?" she said as she hastened her pace to keep up with Layla's long legs. "I mean, I'd rather have it your way of course, but last time everyone was just happy for me I stayed out the whole night."

"The kids here are of course," she said. "To them this is all excellent gossip and some sort of Cinderella-story. However, there are some people who can become quite a problem is this news gets outside the school gates. Your parents seem... well, they were only excited to hear you were staying at Doumyouji's mansion and even encouraged me to send you to his room when I called them, but his parents might be less amused."

"My parents..." she sighed heavily. Of course they would say something like that, urgh. They would only be happy if she and Doumyouji started dating, but not because they knew him. "But I thought Doumyouji's parents were in New York?"

"They are," Layla replied, "but do you really think anyting happens in the Doumyouji-mansion without his mother and father knowing of it? You should know that the wealthy families have eyes and ears everywhere, definitely if it concerns the young masters and ladies. Needless to say Doumyouji is, even though you might not see him that way, the heir of the Doumyouji-group. Everything he does is monitored by many people."

"Seems suffocating to me," she mumbled.

"That is why I could understand what Akira meant when he said school is a place he can relax. In here not many people need to keep and eye on them, so the pressure is a lot less than when they're at a party or anywhere else for that matter."

"Akira?" she repeated, and Layla sighed.

"He kept insisting to call him by his first name, so I will."

"Heh?" she said as she pushed Layla a little. "Maybe he likes you."

"Akira only likes women who are at least ten years older than him," she replied undisturbed. "I can confidently say I do not belong in his area of interest."

"Ah, Layla! Maki-chan!" Mimasaka waved at them from the rose garden and she automatically walked over to him and Soujirou. She didn't see Tsukasa and quickly asked where he was.

"Ah, he was talking about revenge and suddenly took off," he replied as he looked up at the main building. "He's probably..."

"You're not kidding right Akira?" Layla asked. "Revenge? Against those idiots? I already kicked the living daylights out of them yesterday so.."

"Uh-oh," she mumbled and she immediately took off. Layla, Mimasaka and Soujirou catched up when she was in front of the main building, where a large crowd had already gathered and was looking up, some even pointing. She gasped when she actually saw what he had done.

"Oh my God," Layla muttered in English.

"Tsukasa..." Soujirou sighed.

"He always goes too extreme," Mimasaka mumbled tired.

"We need to get up there right now!" she said panicked as she looked up at the roof of the main building. There were five of them, and they all hung upside-down by a rope from the railing on the rooftop. Two of them were screaming and calling for help, others didn't make a sound at all. Did they faint? Not surprising under the circumstances...

"Pff hahahaha." She looked over het shoulder and saw Layla was laughing to hard she needed to hold Soujirou's shoulder so she wouldn't fall. "Layla..?" "And I thought I was extreme when I said I would hang Sakurako upside-down in the cafeteria hahaha, he really goes big hahaha."

"STOP YELLING OR I'LL CUT THE ROPE!" they heard Tsukasa shout, and one of the them now even shouted harder, completely in panic.

"We need to get up there," Soujirou mumbled irritated. "He really would cut the rope if they irritate him too much. And they would die from a fall from that high. Not that he would know that of course, he's too dumb to realize it."

They all ran upstairs as fast as they could, and she was on the roof first.

"Wait you! What the hell are you doing?!" she shouted so Tsukasa turned around.

"Hey, you're finally here," he replied enthousiastic and he handed her a pair of scissors. "Here. Cut the rope of the guy you hate most first."

"C-cut the rope?" she stammered as she stared at the scissors. "But they'll die that way!" She looked over the railing to the guys who hung there and saw that three of them looked up scared. One of the five was still screaming.

"SAAAVVEEE MEEEE!"

"That guy," she mumbled as she stared down, "That guy is the one who hit me with a baseball bat."

"Got it!" Tsukasa said as he leaned over next to her, "Let's cut his rope first." Now the guy shouted even harder, and then suddenly the people on the ground also started screaming and even ran away.

"Something's coming down! Gross!" "Uh-oh," she mumbled as she saw what was trickling down on the people below.

"What a dumbass. He peed in his pants."

"Anybody would do that in this situation," she grinned.

"Are you... feeling better now?" he asked. "Ah!" Was that... why he did this? Just... so she would feel better? She blushed and turned her head away. "Hmm, yes, much better," she stammered.

"Uh, okay... uhm, that's good then," he said, and when she did dare to look at him again she saw he also had a head the colour of a tomato.

"Oi, why are you blushing so much when you look at each other?" Akira said with a frown. "Don't tell me something really did happen yesterday?"

"That's not something you should ask," Layla grumbled when she gave him a little push. Layla winked at her and she quickly looked away, down at those dumb guys who still hung on their ropes. And Tsukasa just stood beside her, not saying anything as well. This feeling...

wasn't too bad...

"Hey!"

Huh...? 'Hey?' That... voice. It couldn't be...

"How are you guys doing?"

She whirled around, her own hair slamming in her face in her hurry to see. In the doorway, his hands casually tucked in the pockets of his pants... Tea-coloured hair, marble eyes, a moss-green sweater, that smile...

It really was him.

Hanazawa Rui.


	5. The hidden me

She just stood there frozen in place as Rui walked over to them, his hands stuffed in his pockets, on his face a mysterious smile that she knew all too well. It gave her shivers. Rui... Hanazawa Rui...

Soujirou, Mimasaka and even Tsukasa immediately ran over to him and slapped him on the shoulder. “What's the big idea man!” Mimasaka shouted happy when he ruffled through Rui's hair. “Couldn't you even call or something?!”

“When did you arrive?” Soujirou said.

“Last night,” Rui said with a laugh. Then he noticed her and smiled even more brightly. “Long time no see! What happened to your face? Did something happen?”

She was just too nervous to talk. She just barely managed a 'nothing' out of her mouth, and she felt her body heating up again. Rui was really here? Why? Why was he back? And his laugh... so suddenly... he was laughing so freely now... the mysterious smile from before had completely disappeared.. “Ack!” It slipped out of her mouth when Tsukasa suddenly pulled her towards him, a bright smile on his face.

“Rui! Tsukushi's my girlfriend now,” he announced proudly, like he'd won some sort of prize. But wait... Eh? What did he just say? Girl... friend? She just barely called him by his first name... She didn't even say yes to that girlfriend-label yet!

“Hyaa, that's a pity,” Rui said with a laugh.

Huh? Was he really... did he just say 'a pity'?

“Is that so? Don't try to get in our way though,” Tsukasa said, still holding her tight.

“Hohui, it's been a while since all of us were together, so let's go celebrate!” Mimasaka said with a fist in the air. He pulled Tsukasa away from her and pushed him through the doorway, with Soujirou following right behind them. At the doorway Rui turned around and laughed at her again.

“Hi again Tsukushi-chan,” he said so soft only she was able to hear him above the noise Mimasaka and Tsukasa were making on the staircase. He walked away before she could give a reply, leaving her just standing there on the rooftop. Uwaaaaah! He just casually called her by her first name! And he even smiled so much at her...?!

“So.... it seems Hanazawa-san and you also have something going on?”

“L-L-Layla!” She had completely forgotten she was here! Layla in the mean time had pulled all the guys up by their ropes, and she'd also cut them. Three of them were still unconscious, the other two quickly stumbled away after a quick look at her, stammering they would never never do it again.

“Yeah me,” she said with raised eyebrows. “Mind telling me what's going on Tsukushi? I thought you had a thing for Doumyouji, but it seems Hanazawa also has quite an impact on you. You're not two-timing huh?Then you really have changed since the last time I saw you... Although you can call it an accomplishment to some degree...”

“O-of course not!” she shouted with red-hot cheeks.

“Good,” Layla sighed. “Cause this seems really weird you know? And I didn't know you were actually dating Doumyouji? When did that happen?”

“We aren't dating,” she said with a sigh. “He just decided that on his own. Although you said he would wait until I was ready, he obviously has no patience.”

“Hmm.... isn't that becuase of Hanazawa?”

“What? Why?”

“I heard he went to France to chase after Shizuka-chan, so I thought he would finally be in a relationship with her. But he is back here so... and without Shizuka... Maybe Doumyouji just feels treatened? Your face turned slightly red when you first saw him, did you realize?”

“Uh, no I....”

“And he noticed as well,” she said. “He knows your feelings for Hanazawa?”

“Well euhm, he knows we've been meeting, just to talk, on the emergency staircase in school before I got red-tagged by Doumyouji.... but that's all I think.”

“Hmm, well, it's fine then I guess?” Layla said as she untied the last guy. He was still unconscious, but the colour had returned to his face. “To be dating I mean. If you're dating you can find out if you like that guy right?”

“I... I think so,” she mumbled, feeling utterly confused. Rui was back.... and Tsukasa.... why did it feel so strange? Did she still.... did she still have feelings for Rui? Even though she let him go?

“There,” she said as she tossed all the rope in a corner of the rooftop. “That's been taken care of. Ah Tsukushi, I'll be in your care today okay?”

“Eh, okay?” she said, feeling more confused by the second.

“I really want to know how school life is here,” she said with a smile, “so show me around today ne?”

“School? You mean... you want to follow classes with me?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Euhm, I think the teacher might have a problem with it...” she mumbled, but Layla waved her comment away.

“No way, I'm sure I'm very persuasive,” she grinned.

* * *

  
It literally took Layla three sentences to convince the teacher to let her stay in the classroom, and since no one had wanted to sit next to her Layla could easily take that seat. When the others came in they froze in the doorway, looking like they were not sure if what they were seeing was real.

“Ah, your classmates are quite funny,” Layla grinned when she saw them look at her. “No, I'm not a mirage, so I won't go away if you blink. And I will stay here the whole day, so you better get used to me as quick as you can. I hope we can have an.... interesting schoolday together.” She winked and a few guys defrosted, one of them even clumsily waved.

“Tch,” Asai said when she walked past, “don't think you can protect her forever you hoodlum. She has betrayed Doumyouji's trust and no one's going to take that lightly.”

“First of all: I don't need to 'protect' my friend, she can do that quite well herself,” Layla replied cooly. “Second, I don't know if you saw the five unfortunate idiots dangling above the main entrance this morning, but that same Doumyouji has punished the ones who were after my friend. Which means he believes her story above the silly rumours a certain someone has started. So why are you still hostile? If your dear Doumyouji is on good terms with her, shouldn't you be as well?”

“Layla, never mind, they will not understand,” she whispered when Asai put her nose in the air and walked past as arrogantly as she could. Her friend Kariko however lingered behind and asked from which brand her coat was.

“My coat?” Layla said as she tossed it over her chair. “Dunno, I don't care about brands. I got it from one of my friends.”

“But isn't it the limited edition Elizabeth and James? Only fourty of those coats were made.”

“I wouldn't know, I'm not interested in that sort of stuff,” Layla said. “I told you it was a present, and it's comfortable. That's enough for me.”

Kariko didn't say anything and just walked after Asai and the others, but she did look back at Layla a few more times. She also started to whisper to Asai the moment she sat down and saw her look their way as well. But they didn't give Layla the look of loathing they had used just now. Was it because of her clothes? The rich girl branding?

* * *

  
“Hey, want to come over to my house tonight?” Layla asked when the last bell had rung, signalling the end of another tiresome day. She still hadn't been over the fact Rui had suddenly returned, but she hadn't seen him or any of the other F4 the whole day. Did they just leave to 'celebrate'? That wouldn't be so surprising... But going home to Layla's house?

“Of course!” she said happy. “I would love to meet everyone after all those years!”

“Aah... well about that....” Layla said with a silly laugh, “they are not home yet and they're still moving in furniture, so the main house isn't finished as of now but... I temporarily live with my grandparents right now at the edge of the forest, so if you would like to come there?”

“I would love to!” Layla's grandparents were a bit strict, but they loved Layla dearly and had always welcomed her just like any other visitor in their house, regardless if she had money or not. It would be great to see them again!

“Great! Then I'll call Matsumoto, he'll get us with their car,” she said as she grabbed her phone. Uwaah, the newest Iphone, and the silvery Lotus on the case was probably the real deal. Just like the phone strap with a tiny see-through Lotus on it.

“Is that Swarovski?” she gasped as Layla held the phone against her ear.

“Hah? Oh that, I think so,” she mumbled. “I already told you I'm not into that stuff. It was a gift as well.”

“You sure get a lot of gifts,” she mumbled and Layla laughed.

“It's common courtesy in our family, and our clients mostly give us a gift as well when we've finished a job. Convenient for me, then I don't need to shop. I hate shopping districts even more than stuck up rich kids. Ah, Matsumoto? Yeah, it's me. Tsukushi-chan is coming over tonight, so can you come and pick us up?... Yeah, you can tell my dad, no problem. Oh, and definitely reserve some of those delicious cheesecakes for us will you?.... Thanks! Bye bye.”

Layla turned off her phone and nodded content. “Okido, that's being taken care of. He will be here in fifteen minutes, so if we slowly walk to the driveway he'll be there at the time we'll arrive.”

* * *

  
She had forgotten how enormous the house of Layla's grandparents was! It was about half the size of Tsukasa's mansion, but still... that meant it was ridiculously huge! And to think only two people lived there.... The driver Matsumoto drove the car through the entranceway, and as she looked at the two large curly fences that directly closed after they drove through, she also saw two guards standing near the pillars of the gates.

“Layla, did you grandparents always have guards standing by?” she said surprised.

“No. Until recently they did not,” she replied. “But my father thought it wise to post a few men and women here and there, just to be sure nothing would happen to them.”

“Has it become... that bad?” she said as she crunched her seatbelt in her hands.

“Not exactly. You see Tsukushi-chan, our job is to protect people. And if you protect someone, there has to be someone else you have to protect them from right? Which means we make a lot of friends, but also a lot of people who don't like us very much. And we have to take proper countermeasurements against those kind of people, on the silly thought they might want to do something to us. That's why they're there. But don't worry, ever since we put those guards at the gates there hasn't been anyone that has tried to do something to my grandparents. It's just a precaution, a precaution.”

“I see,” she mumbled as they passed the large pond and fountain that led to the two-story mansion at the end. The style was also quite comparable with Tsukasa's house, with large pillars supporting the entrance and white stairs leading to the grand entrance with two giant doors, that were both open right now and gave her a nice view of the lower part of the giant chandelier in the hallway.

“Layla-chan, Tsukushi-chan!”

A woman came outside the front door when they had just stepped outside the car, and Layla immediately walked over to her and hugged her shortly.

“Grandmother, it's good to see you again,” she said as she let go again. “Is grandfather not here?”

“No dear, he is at the main house organizing things. He will probably be back in the morning,” she said. “And Tsukushi-chan, how good to see you too!” She felt a little awkward when the woman hugged her as well, but let it happen. Layla's grandmother had always been the cuddling-type.

“Good to see you too Ayaka-san.”

“Ah, Aya-chan is fine, really! You always used to call me that, please keep doing so,” she said with a little laugh. It was like she hadn't changed a bit since the last time they'd seen each other! She still had the same chestnut hair and about the same amount of wrinkles as her own mother! Her mom wouldn't like that... Aya-chans blue eyes sparkled when she looked at her from head to toe and nodded content. “You have become a woman Tsukushi-chan, you look really feminine.”

“Wha... uhm, thank you,” she mumbled embarassed. “You look like you haven't aged a day since the last time I saw you...”

“Oh ho ho, so polite,” Ayaka said as she folded a strand of hair behind her ear. “Come inside, I heard Layla had ordered the cheesecakes, so I brought them to your room. Please enjoy them.”

They were escorted inside and after a cup of tea with Ayaka in the beautiful tea-salon which was bigger than her whole house they went to the first floor where Layla's room was. She smiled as she walked through the hallways. Not much had changed since the last time she came here. The marble stairs, the polished wooden railings and furniture, the eight-story chandelier in the hallway, the paintings in the corridors on the first floor... She could all remember it perfectly, and think back to the time she and Layla played tag here.

Even Layla's room was mostly the same. A large, canopy bed with sand-coloured sheets and curtains on it, a closet so large her whole bedroom at home would fit and a mirror-wall where Layla used to practise her ballet and, not long after that, different kinds of self-defense techniques. Near the windows (as large as two floors) stood the lounge chairs and table with, like Ayaka had said, cheesecake and more tea. There was also a large staple of girl-magazines on it and she eagerly grabbed one to look in it. She usually saw Asai and the others read these and comment on the newest styles and clothing that stood in it, but she could only cast glances as she walked past. The magazine itself was so expensive she'd never wanted to buy one.

“You like those?” Layla asked as she kicked her shoes near a sand-coloured chest and fell down in one of the lounge-chairs.

“Uhm, yeah, they have all the newest stuff in here,” she mumbled as she paged through it. “Ah, the manicure they gave me! And took again as well....”

“They gave something and then took it away?” Layla frowned as she took a bite from her cheesecake. “They really are strange people.”

“It was only when they thought I went out with Tsukasa they were nice to me,” she sighed. “And when Sakurako set me up like that they suddenly acted like I was an enemy again.”

“Some fake friends they are,” Layla snorted. “You should taste the cake, it's delicious.”

“Yeah, I know they were but... it felt nice you know? Just holding hands and walking together to the classroom for a change, instead of getting chewed out or getting eggs thrown at you...”

“They even threw eggs?!”

“Forget it Layla, it was so immature I'm already over it,” she mumbled as she took a bite from the cheesecake as well. It was indeed delicious.

“Why did you want to go to that dumb school anyway?” Layla asked curious.

“Because it's Eitoku,” she replied instantly. “The name does a lot when I'm solliciting for a job later on. If you have been to Eitoku, you are 'something'.” She put her cake down again and sighed. If it wasn't for that stupid reason, she would have never went...

“Yeah, you're rotten and annoying,” Layla snorted. “I can't believe people would fall for that fake stuff.”

“That's just how the world works I guess.”

“Yeah, the whole world sucks,” Layla grinned as she suddenly threw a pillow. It hit her full in the face and she jumped up, throwing one back immediately. Within a minute the whole room was a mess and they lay somewhere on the bed, the sheets tangled around them and still laughing from the last pillow-attack on each other.

“Ah, that was fun,” Layla sighed as she walked back to the loungechairs and continued eating her cheesecake. She wobbled out of bed and fell down on the other chair, breathing heavily.

“You're brutal when it comes to pillowfights,” she barely managed to say.

“Well, let's just say I hate to lose,” Layla grinned as she turned around in her chair. A knock on the door made them both look at it.

“Who is it?” Layla shouted in a funny voice.

The door opened and the butler she'd seen a few times before stepped inside. He noticed the mess, but didn't comment about it. Heh heh, he was good... If her own mom would see something like this...

“Miss, there is someone here to see you,” the butler said and, to her surprise, he looked at her.

“Me? Who is it?” she said baffled. No one knew she was at Layla's, except for her parents she called in the car on our way here. Did they come?

“Ah, just send them in then,” Layla said as she laid upside-down on the couch, reading one of the magazines. The butler nodded and disappeared from their sight, so reappear not even five minutes later. Whoah, how did he do that? Magic?!

“This youngmen here,” the butler said as he stepped aside. When Thomas stepped through the doorway both she and Layla sprung up. However, as she just stared at the guy, not sure whether to shout at him or hit him, Layla jumped over the table and kicked his legs from under his body. He fell on the ground with a dull -thud!- but before he could get to his feet again Layla pinned him to the ground, his hands and feet locked in a special hold. The butler hadn't moved from his spot, but he looked like he had no idea how to deal with this situation.

“Miss, is he not welcome? He identified himself als Tsukushi Makino's friend.”

“It's not like he's not welcome,” Layla said angry.” He just needs to be taught a few lessons. You can go now Nikei, and don't report anything to my grandmother. I'll deal with him.”

“Very well then,” he said polite as he turned around and closed the door behind him.

“So how did you find her heh?” Layla said as she kept pressing him against the ground. “No one even knew she was here with me, we called her parents in the car and yet you're here. How?!”

“I just followed the car you went with from school,” Thomas replied suffocated. “I needed to talk to Tsukushi no matter what!”

“I should break at least a few bones for what you did to my friend,” Layla said angry as she tightened the lock she had on Thomas, which made him squeal like a little girl.

“Stop! Please stop!” he shouted.

“What? So you can trick her again?!” Layla said and she tightened his armhold even more, making the fabric of his shirt twist so tight she tought it would rip.

“No, no! I didn't come here for that! Please, it's about Sakurako!”

“Sakurako?”

“H-here,” he panted as his face turned redder and redder in Layla's choke-hold. He looked at the bag he'd brought with her and she grabbed it. Inside was a photo album, and when she opened it she saw all kinds of pictures from kids in kindergarten.

“Whose album is this?” she said as she turned the pages, a deep frown on her forehead.

“It's Sakurako's,” Thomas coughed as he tried to get free from Layla's grip. A useless effort of course, but still... this was Sakurako?!

“You can't be serious,” she said as she kept turning the pages, looking at the girl that was smiling back at her. Her face...

“This was the album Sakurako didn't want you to see when you first went to her house,” he said. “That's the real Sakurako.”

“Layla, you can let go of him,” she said when she noticed Layla was still trying her best to just not choke him.

“You sure? This guy was the one who touched you with his dirty paws. The least I can do is hurt those little paws...”

“P-please don't!” he shouted.

“It's okay Layla, let him go,” she sighed. “Let him speak. I want to know.”

“Tch.” Layla immediately let go of Thomas, who fell flat-faced on the floor when she did. He scrambled to his feet, and also away from Layla, who still glared at him like she could do something nasty to him.

“Sakurako was with the F4 in grade school as well,” Thomas said quickly as he sat down on the couch. “She really liked Doumyouji-san back then, but she didn't dare to tell him. When one of her friends told Doumyouji he called her ugly and said she should never come near him! She was quite depressed after that, and eventually she even decided to do something about it. That's why... she looks the way she does right now.”

“That's still no excuse to behave that way,” she said annoyed. “I got punched and kicked around, and they were even dragging me over the ground!”

“I know it's no excuse!” Thomas said hastily. “But it's just... when she suddenly realized she could do anything with her new face, she slowly turned into who she is right now. She's still a nice girl underneath, really! Tsukushi, you were the first girl she brought home, ever. She has just been so lonely all the time, it made her into who she is right now. Please, can you find it in your heart to forgive her?”

“She hasn't even apologized,” Layla said grumpy.

“I... I have to think about it,” she mumbled as she closed the album and gave it back to Thomas. “You went through some trouble to find me so... I'll think about it.”

When Thomas left Layla fell back in the cushions and sighed. “You really are a softie Tsukushi.”

“I can't help it,” she sighed as well. “When I came to this school, I had to hide the real me too. And you as well... a lot has happened, hasn't it? You're not smiling like you used to do when we were kids. Maybe we all have a different side of our personalities that we don't want to show to anybody....”

“I guess,” Layla mumbled, playing with one of the magazines that lay on the salontable. “The things that happen to us make us into the people we are. And the things that happened to Sakurako affected her deeply.

“Layla, you're not going to tell me what happened during the years we haven't seen each other huh?”

“If I tried to do that it would take waaaay too long. And besides, your life would be in danger from that point on. I wouldn't want to risk it.”

“Layla...”

“I'm serious Tsukushi, I know too much. About places, about people.... I can't talk about that.” Her serious face broke into a smile and she tossed her a magazine. “But that doesn't mean we can't make lots of memories together again right?”

“Right!” she laughed, after which she started another pillowfight.


	6. I'm sorry

"Morning Tsukushi-chan..."

"Hmm, morning..." she yawned when she heard the voice. When she openened her eyes and saw the large canopy bed she slowly remembered she'd slept over at Layla's place. It had become pretty late last night... But it was fun, talking to each other like this after such a long time.

"So, ready to face Hanazawa Rui?"

"WHAT?!" She shouted so loud Layla almost jumped out of bed, taking most of the blankets with her.

"Darn it Tsukushi-chan, what's with the voice?" she said as she ruffled with her hands through her blond messy bedhair. "I was sorta joking you know. Just wanted to see your reaction early in the morning." Layla made a silly face and threw a pillow at her head. "But enough about Hanazawa-san or Doumyouji for that matter, have you thought about what you will do with Sakurako? You know my opinion on the matter, but I can't say I'm completely unbiased. I hate people like her the most."

"Pff, what to do with her..." she mumbled, for a moment deeply lost in thought. As she thought about Sakurako's face when she said she didn't need her anymore, that her role was played... it really made her angry. She thought of Sakurako as a friend, but just got used in the end... But the way Thomas acted yesterday, and the photoalbum... She really had changed a lot, both on the inside and the outside. Would she try to forgive her?

"I don't know yet," she eventually mumbled, "but I might know if I see her at school today."

"Well, whatever works for you I guess," Layla said as she put a tray on the bed. It was filled with croissants, cakes, tiny bread slices and eggs, and so much stuff she could put on it! The felt her mouth water when she saw everything and swallowed a few times before she would speak, afraid she might drool.

"This is really too much... don't you get extremely fat eating this every morning?"

Layla shook her head as she took a big bite of a croissant. "Not really. I don't have to watch my weight, I sport too much to get fat. Although my father does have a special menu for me. I usually eat that, but I thought it was fun eating like this together."

"This is really amazing..." she mumbled between a bite from a croissant and a sip of her freshly squeezed orange juice. "I would really get fat eating this every day."

"But you won't get fat eating this once in a while right? So enjoy I would say," Layla mumbled as she put the hardboiled egg on a spoon and balanced it in her mouth.

* * *

 

"Layla-chan, Tsukushi-chan! Good to see you! Tell me, what do you think?"

For a second she had absolutely no idea what to say, and consciously had to think about keeping her mouth closed as she stared at the scene in front of her. Aya-chan stood on a low table, twirling around in a very expensive-looking ice-blue dress. Around her were at least five maids, pulling clothing from racks that seemed to have been rolled in the living room from somewhere. There were tons of dresses on those racks and one glittered even more than the other. She recognized the short dress Shizuka let her wear at the party on the ship and saw also the dress that was on display at the Chanel-store last week. There had to be thouands... no maybe even millions worth of clothing here...! It really dizzied her.

One particularily nervous guy that was so tiny you could probably fit him in a suitcase was jumping around Aya-chan, complementing her on how good the dress looked on her. Aya-chan however didn't seem too convinced.

"I'm not sure," she mumbled as she twirled around once more, letting the long blue fabric flap in the wind she created. "I can't say I'm really feeling it... what do you think, Tsukushi-chan, Layla-chan?"

"Eh..." She absolutely had no idea what to say. All the dresses looked fabulous to her, and the ice-blue one also looked amazing, but she wasn't too sure?! She had no idea how to reply to that! She saw the guy look at her with disdain and swallowed. "Ehm, I'm not too sure either, I'm not an expert on these kind of dresses," she said hastily.

"Hmm, I wouldn't go with that one." Layla said it with so much certainty Aya-chan immediately nodded.

"I thought so too. It's a lovely dress, but it just..."

"It's not the one you'll need for tonight," Layla said as she walked over to the racks with dresses. Seeing as she herself was wearing skinny jeans, black boots with studs and an off-shoulder top she really looked out of place there. But Layla confidently browsed through the racks, until she pulled out a fire-red tight one-shoulder dress. "Here, this one should be perfect." She tossed the dress to Aya-chan, who brightened up when she saw it.

"Oooh I love this color! I will try it on immediately!" She just tossed the blue dress at the guy, who nearly bent double at the weight of it, and pulled the red dress over her head. The effect was amazing. In the blue dress Aya-chan had looked like an elegant fragile fairy, and now in this dress... she looked just... sexy.

"Thought as much," Layla said with a headnod. "You will need a power-outfit to take on those idiots tonight, this one leaves a much bigger impression. No doubt about it everyone will look at you the moment you step through those doors.

"I love it! Thank you Layla-chan!" Aya-chan kept turning and turning and looked at herself from every angle, as Layla took the blue dress from the guy and hung it back in the rack for him.

"Thank you miss," the guy said with a tiny bow, but Layla just waved it away.

"She's a hard woman to please, I know that. Good job bringing so many of your designs Jaques. I'm sure she will call you again for the next party."

They left the house after many, many greetings from Aya-chan and the staff and Matsumoto brought them to Eitoku High in the limousine again. She fell back in the leather cushions and sighed. She shouldn't get too used to this kind of life but still... it really felt great.

* * *

 

"Did you guys see it?! The yearbook Asai brought with her!"

"I did! I can't believe it!"

"What's going on here?" Layla said surprised as they saw all their classmates standing around Asai, who had a book in her hands. With a contemptuous smile on her face she showed it to everyone, and they all got surprised and shocked expressions on their faces.

"Look," Asai said as she showed it to her two best friends, "I found this yearbook yesterday at my cousin's house. This is the girl whom all the guys drool for, and has been around the F4 like a fly – the real Sakurako Sanjo."

"Oh my Yuriko, is that really her?!" Kariko shrieked in a terrible attempt at acting shocked. "I cannot belieeeve it!"

"Hmm, looks like her act is over anyway," Layla sighed as they both recognized the photoalbum of Eitoku kindergarten. "No matter what she is going to say now, everyone will know it's a lie. Seems like you don't need to be afraid of her anymore Tsukushi-chan."

"Y-yeah... probably," she mumbled as she looked at her laughing classmates. It felt... strange, looking at them like that. Normally it would be her they would be laughing about, or getting angry about, but now... it was Sakurako? "Maybe... I need to tell her... before she comes in..."

"That will be just a bit too late," Layla sighed as she pointed to the doorway. Sakurako just came in, an angelic expression on her face as always. Well, when she wasn't talking to them anyway. The class fell silent and she stopped, not sure what was going on.

"So Sakurako, it's pretty amazing isn't it?" one of the guys suddenly said, a strange smile on his face, like he had trouble not to laugh.

"Yeah, did it hurt a lot?" Kuroko giggled. She flipped her hair back over her shoulder and sighed. "How terrible of you, deluding the world that much."

Sakurako looked at the faces of her classmates and didn't seem to know what was going on. Her face seemed completely clueless, perfectly innocent like she always acted at school. However, this time no one would buy it.

"It's amazing!" a guy suddenly shouted, so loud the people outside their classroom could also hear it. "I can't believe that's a face that went under plastic surgery! How much did it cost? Did you use your heritage? You're totally different from what you looked like in kindergarten!" Some students outside now also caught up on the news and flocked at the entrance to their classroom, trying to peek inside.

"I can't believe how an ugly face like that has turned into this," Asai said with disbelief. "And you acted like you were all that, while in reality you were just this ugly? You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I really fell for it all the way," Kurako grinned, tapping with her long manicured fingernails on the yearbook on Asai's table. "Maybe we should compliment you for fooling everyone that much."

"And what of it?" She couldn't bear this any longer. Those stupid people just did whatever they wanted! First her, and now they had found something on Sakurako it was her!? She stepped in front of Sakurako and crossed her arms in front of her chest, glaring at her classmates. "You buy everything you like with money, so why can't she buy beauty? What's so wrong with it?!"

"W... what's up with that," Kurako said surprised, not really knowing what to say for a moment.

"What?! You wanna be hanged from the roof too?!"

She didn't need to say that twice. Even though the lessons were about to start soon, everyone just ran outside, leaving only Layla, Sakurako and her in the room.

"Good job scaring everyone," Layla grinned as she sat down in her (apparently now usual) place.

"Don't get me wrong," she said, still feeling angry. "I haven't forgiven her yet." She didn't turn around to face Sakurako, but just kept looking at the flowers outside the window. "I haven't forgiven you yet. If I think about what you did to me I'm still furious. It's just that... when you served me tea at your house... it was really good... so I wanted to show my gratitude for it. That's all."

She saw Layla with a tiny smile on her face, who didn't say anything and just grabbed a book.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." The whispers were hardly hearable, and Sakurako's small hands shook terrible while holding the back of her shirt but... her back felt really warm and comfortable right now...

* * *

 

"You were really cool back there Tsukushi-chan," Layla mumbled when they had a break during classes. They were on their way to the rose gardens where she knew the F4 were.

"I just... everybody has their own troubles to deal with, and it's unfair to judge her that way right? I just wanted her to know I don't think like that."

"You have a big heart," Layla grinned, "almost too big. "But don't try to gobble up both Doumiouji and Hanazawa, that would be too much for even you to handle."

"Wha... Layla!" she shouted with red-hot cheeks. "Don't say stuff like that!"

"Ah, Tsukushi," Tsukasa said when he saw them. "We heard. About Sakurako. Strange. I never thought she would change that much."

"I know! And I would have never recognized her either!" Mimasaka shouted in disbelief. "I mean, how much did she change? She really is like a different person."

"People... don't you realize it's because of you..." she sighed when they just kept talking loudly, and gave up on the thought of letting them feel guilty.

"By the way Tsukushi, take this," Tsukasa said as he tossed her something. When she looked at what she had caught she saw it was a shiny golden phone, with a strap on it that glittered as well. Uwaah... was this a real golden plating?! And that strap... swarovski?! Just how much did this thing cost?! "Listen, you'll have to come when I call okay?" he said as he tapped on the phone, that shone brightly when it reflected the sunlight. "Come immediately. Okay, that's all."

Wha...! There was something seriously wrong about this! Come immediately?! She was not a dog! Aaaahh... She hit herself on the head a few times from frustration, biting her lips.

"What is wrong with her now..." she heard Soujirou say, but she didn't have the energy to reply. He would just say 'that's how Tsukasa is' and be done with it anyway. Come... immediately huh? She would just see about that! She sat down next to the guys and played a little with the phone she'd just gotten. She noticed Tsukasa had already put his own number on speed dial and sighed. He was a little too much...

"Oh, I'll come back later." She looked up and saw Layla getting up again, her phone by her ear. She walked away and waved a little, but that was all the explanation she got.

"Did she need to go somewhere?" she asked Soujirou, who just shrugged.

"No idea. Layla didn't say. Akira, can you pass me the coffee?"

Mimasaki apparently didn't seem to know either, so she just settled on a cup of coffe as well and laughed about a story he told. He and his adventures in the club...

"Oh, Layla is back..." Mimasaka said, but he suddenly stopped talking and just kept staring. They all followed his gaze and she swallowed a few times when she saw why exactly he was staring.

"Layla... those clothes... no way..." she said hesitant as she looked down at the checkered blazer and skirt, the exact same one she was wearing, "that uniform, does that mean...?"

"Oh, my dad checked me in," she said with a shrug, like it was no big deal at all. "At first I wanted to go to Tatsuki High because I thought you would be there, so when I had to go on an errand and found you here I was so surprised! I had no idea you went to school here."

"Y-yeah, but to change schools just for that..." she stammered.

"Ah, no worries about that, it wasn't the school I was interested in anyway," she said as she ruffled through her hair, making it stick out in all directions. "It was you silly!"

"Me? I'm not, I don't... I mean,..."

"Ah stop stammering Maki-chan, that's not cool," she sighed as she tucked a strand of her painted blond hair behind her ear. "Is it not okay for me to come here then?"

"N-no! By all means do!" she blurted. "But I wouldn't want you to do something just for me, that's just too..."

"Maki-chan," she interrupted her and she smiled. "You've been to school here for a while now haven't you? Then think about it for a moment: how was it? How did everyone treat eachother here? The ones with the most money are treated differently right?"

"Uhm..."

"Then what would happen if I went to a school where I would be the richest by far? They would all either try and become friendly because of that, or shun me because of that. The only reason why I chose Tatsuki High was because I thought you would be there. And I thought that there would be at least one person in that school who wouldn't try and approach me because of my money, but because of who I am."

"It's the same for us Makino," Soujirou mumbled. "It's not that strange."

"No but... well euhm... then I guess welcome?"

"Heeeh... this is interesting, we're almost the same as we were back then," Mimasaka said as he fell back on the blanket they sat on. "Only Shizuka is missing..."

"Oi Akira, don't talk about her right now," Soujirou said as he glanced at Rui, who shrugged.

"I don't mind. Besides, we have Tsukushi-chan now."

"Yeah, like that's a comparison," Mimasaka said. "She's hmpfdmlll!" Layla had pushed a blanket into his face and he was struggling to get free. But Rui... 'we have Tsukushi-chan now'? What on earth did he mean? She immediately felt Tsukasa moving a little closer to her and tensed up. This was really suffocating...

"Pfuah! Layla-chan, you're brutal as always," Mimasaka said when he'd finally pushed the blanket away. "Have you ever been a real lady?"

"Always," she grinned, "with a little extra. Just like the first time we met, 7 years ago or so? You were playing soccer and that guy', she poined to Tsukasa, 'kicked a ball at me. I returned it quite well."

"Ah, I remember," he said as he played a little with her hair. That guy... really did seem hell-bent on touching her for as long as Rui was looking. And she had no idea where to look because of that... "You did a Ronaldo and returned it straight to my face."

"I didn't know you would keep standing still," Layla pouted. "Do you have any idea how much I got scolded by my dad for that? He kept nagging I shouldn't hurt the bochama's or it would ruin our reputation. Really annoying."

"I didn't know you knew each other from such a long time ago," she mumbled as she tried her hardest to keep staring at Layla, not trying to feel his fingers brushing through her hair. Surprisingly enough, he was really good at it...

"Hmm, my dad brought me to his," she pointed at Soujirou," home, and told me I had to stay there until a certain threat had passed."

"Yeah about that," Mimasaka said as he looked up at her, not bothering to get up. "What are you exactly? You keep saying that Nishikaido was a client, but in what way? What did you do back then? Not the dirty kind of hmpfdl!"

Again Layla silenced him with the blanket, but at the same time she said no. "It's not like it's a big secret or anything, but I was there as a bodyguard," she said. "That's what my family does. Protecting people is our job."

"Mimasaka really, you shouldn't provoke Layla too much or she'll accidentally kill you," she said with a little laugh.

"Aw, not you too Makino-chan," he said as he got free from the blanket and pointed at her. "Akira. And I will not listen to any other thing you say okay? And just call Soujirou Nishikaido as well, and Rui's Rui. It sounds really weird when you just call Tsukasa by his first name."

"But she's my girlfriend, so that's normal," Tsukasa said without even blinking. "Why should she call you by your first names? She's not your girlfriend."

"Argh, don't be so troublesome Tsukasa," Akira said irritated. "Fine then, Layla, you'll call us all by our first names. And don't talk about troublesome things like family, because they're not around right now. It sounds really stiff when I get called by my last name so many times a day."

"Uhm, okay," Layla said, a little surprised. "I guess it's fine, as long as I'm not on the job... Then Akira, Rui and.. Nishikaido it is I guess?"

"You too," Akira pointed at her, and she realized he meant she had to call them by their first names. Gheh, what was he ordering her around for as well?! That little spoiled rich brat, they were all like that... But it was not like it was bad or anything...

"Uh, then Akira, Nishikaido... and Rui.."

"Hmm, I like it a lot better if Tsukushi-chan calls me by my first name," Rui said with a little laugh. She looked at her skirt so her hair fell in front of her face, and didn't dare to say anything else. She felt Tsukasa's fingers still brushing through her hair and her stomach tightened. Why did this feel so... so... like she didn't know what to do?

Sorry Rui, Tsukasa... but... she still had no idea of her own feelings...


	7. The Lotus

"Ah besides Tsukushi, why don't you come over to my place tonight?" Layla said as she grabbed her phone. "They have finished moving everything in, so right now it's quite presentable to visitors."

"Uhm, I have to let my parents know," she mumbled as she shuffled her feet. With her being away so many nights it was a small wonder they hadn't said anything about it yet. Although they would probably even encourage her to stay at Doumyouji's for a few night longer... She sighed. Her parents and their weird way of thinking. She was their daughter, not some sort of merchandise they could prance around with...

"Okay, then I'll just invite them as well," Layla said with a shrug.

"A few people more or less doesn't matter to us, lately we're always with more than a hundred."

"You have that many people running around on the grounds?" Akira said interested. It was like his super rich girl-alert had suddenly turned green, and he was eying her with even more interest than before. You had rich and rich of course, and now Layla suddenly seemed to belong in the upper class even. Yeah, interesting... Gheh, he would be in for a big surprise if he thought about targeting Layla. Besides, wasn't he interested in women who were at least ten years older?!

"Hmm, usually not that much," Layla mumbled as she took a sip of her coffee, "but a few big assignments have been cleared at the same time, so our bodyguards and infiltrants have come back from those projects. It at least doubles our household. By the way, you can come too if you would like to. Enough food and drinks for an army."

"I think I'll take that invitation," Akira said happily. "Soujirou?"

"Eh, yeah, it's not like I have any plans for tonight," he said not too interested.

She send him a 'yeah right' -glare. Only and little while ago when Layla was gone both he and Akira were talking about a club they wanted to go to! They didn't meet her gaze and she almost snickered. Was Layla that interesting to the both of them?

"You?" she said as she looked at Rui, who casted a short glance in her direction before he looked back at Layla.

"I will come. I will be fun, going with... all of us," he said with a dazzeling smile.

"How about you?" Layla said as she looked at Doumyouji, her phone already next to her ear. "Are you coming as well?"

He also shortly looked at her, and she quickly stared at her skirt. Why was he staring like that, really uncomfortable...

"Fine, I'll go," he said, sounding like it didn't matter to him at all. "Good, then I'll let Horio know he can take the limo," Layla mumbled as she held the phone a bit higher when apparently someone took the call on the other side.

"Oh Horio? Yeah, it's me. Eh, tonight we'll have a few guests over for dinner... Yeah, those people, but don't exaggerate. It's just a friendly non-official dinner. If you dare to take out the torches I'll toast you... yes, you can take the limo, that will be more comfortable... okay, see you later then." She hung up and called her parents next. It was a short conversation of about three sentences, and she said they were more than happy to be picked up.

"Of course," she sighed. If Layla asked...

"That's that. I also bought you some souvernirs Tsukushi-chan, you can have them when we get to the house. I actually wanted to give them earlier, but we haven't been at my place exactly..."

"Ah, thanks," she murmured. "I'll definitely treat you to thank you."

"At Suzume-san's place right?"

"Uhm, yeah, we could do that?" she said surprised. Layla wanted to go to something simple as that?

"Great! I've been wanting to try her cakes again..."

"If you're something like a bodyguard, aren't you supposed to be on a diet or something?"

Urgh, Doumyouji... as tactless as ever. Luckily Layla could laugh about it.

"Nah, I don't watch my weight like some sort of model wannabe-chick. I do have a special diet, but it usually means I have to eat as much as a guy does. If I don't my body won't have enough calories to burn."

"I'm jealous," she sighed. "You can eat anything you want..."

"Want the same?" she said with a grin. "I an introduce you to my masters. One week with them and you can eat as much as you like. If you survive that is."

"Hah hah, no thanks," she pouted. "I get nightmares just thinking about them. Is Goro still one of them?"

"Yup, alive and very much kicking," she grinned when she stuck out her tongue.

"That you can still keep up with them is a miracle to me."

"I'm used to it. That's different," she said.

Then Layla's phone rang again and she frowned when she saw the display. "Hmm, talk about the devil? Oh no, it's Rogue," she mumbled and strangely enough she immediately took the call, a worried look on her face.

"Yeah, what's up?... No, I'm at school, first day and all... go bother someone else with that job, I just found Tsukushi-chan the other day, don't think I'm quitting school already... I don't care if he owns a damn country!... yeah whatever, Youssef and Reina will be a good combination I think, ask them... yeah yeah, fine, just don't call me again today right? Okay, see you, bye." She hung up, put her phone on silence and dropped it back in the pocket of her jacket.

"Was it the house?" she asked curiously. She didn't remember someone called Rogue, but if Layla took the call that fast...

"Yeah, something about a job," she sighed heavily. "I mean, I just got back. And now they want me gone again? My dad sure loves to throw me outside."

"I'm sure he doesn't mean it that way," she said with a smile. "Hideo-san always thinks about you first."

"Yeah I know, my old man just seems to forget that I don't hate school as long as you're here, so he still has a massive list of jobs lined up for me. I mean, Saoedi-Arabia? Do you have any idea how hot it is there?"

"Was there someone in danger over there?" she asked concerened.

"Nah, not really. Those guys over there are always slightly in danger. I mean, if you trade in oil and weapons you're bound to have a few enemies. But I don't want to dress up in a nikab and follow one of those spoiled princes all day while he's out playing with his friends. No thanks, then I'd rather stay here."

"A... a prince? You protect them as well?"

"Yeah, all sorts," Layla said with a shrug. She then probably looked like a deer in headlights, because Layla laughed at her. "What? The company has gotten quite big over the last few years Tsukushi-chan, it's nothing to be surprised about. Our family already protected the prime minister and half the cabinet when I was nine. It's not strange my dad gets requests from all over the world now."

"Is Hideo-san still in good health?" Nishikaido asked.

"Hmm, as good as can be. You have his regards. He's also anticipating what will happen if the Hungra-assents will transfer to your family." Nishikaido smiled. "Nothing escapes your fathers gaze. I hope they will transfer soon."

"If you need someone to give a little push in the right direction..."

As an answer he just shook his head, still that slight smile on his face. "They will transfer, I'm sure of it. But thank you for the offer."

"I really want to go and see everyone," she said, thinking of everyone in Layla's family. They were all great people and were always so enthousiastic when she came by! "And see the Home again."

"Ah, Tsukushi, it will probably a bit different than the last time you came to the Home," Layla grinned. "We bought up all the grounds and forest around our home and have been expanding it quite a lot. But the centre still hasn't changed, you should recognize that."

"Oh eh, okay," she said, slightly confused. Bought up all the land? If she could remember correctly, Yanizuku forest was near their home, and the homes of a politician and judge. Did she buy those up as well?

"Well, that's the bell, we need to get to class," Layla said when they heard the melody. "I'll see you guys at the entrance then?"

"No problem, we'll be there!" Akira said as they also went to their classes.

* * *

"There are not many as many cars as I remember," she said as they were driving to the Home. They had just passed the corner that lead to an extremely long road, where huge houses in Western style popped up one after another. Some of their driveways were larger than the whole street she lived in, and every house had at least three cars. Soft lights illuminated the richly furnished interiors and she even saw a piano standing in one of the rooms. The rich kids neighbourhood as it was known in the neighbourhood she lived in. She and Tsukasa sat in the far back of the limousine, and Akira, Nishikaido, Layla and Rui had taken place on the couch that stretched all the way to the front. Her parents would be brought with another car. "Usually there would be more students of Eitoku going home right?"

"Oh, back then? Yeah I guess you're right," Layla said. "But that was when they still lived here. They don't anymore, they've all moved."

"Then who lives here now?"

"Us."

"Us? But you live in the Home..." she said confused, and Layla just laughed.

"Nope, I meant that this is all ours," she said as she gestured to the buildings they passed.

"WHAATT?!"

"Stop your shouting woman!" Tsukasa shouted angry. "My eardrums nearly popped out!"

"B-but this... this whole street!?" she said as she looked outside. The road still continued on, and she remembered the cars that were driving the rich kids up to their homes when they came back from school.

"Hmm, it was more convenient this way," Layla said with a headnod. "We already had lots of members live in the city, but it was annoying to let them come over every week for the meetings and briefings. So that's why my dad started buying up all the houses in this street. Not a lot has changed, only the people living in it are all members of the Lotus."

"All... houses... Lotus... yours?"

"It seems Tsukushi-chan can't really grasp it yet," Akira grinned as he stared outside as well. "But you're pretty darn rich then, if you can buy all this stuff. Even we only have about six houses for our family."

"It's not like you can't buy more," Layla said with a shrug. "And these are not for my blood-related family, but they  _are_ for my family. All houses are permanently occupied. It's a big difference with a summer house."

"Miss," the driver called through the speaker, "we will be arriving at Home shortly. Do you wish me to notify them?"

"Please don't," she sighed as she pressed a button below the tv-screen. "They will only make a big fuss out of it. It's just dinner."

"Very well then, I will not notify them," he replied before the car made a turn to the right.

"I don't think he even needs to say that you're coming," Akira mumbled and she could hear the amusement in his voice. "Your family definitely knows that we're coming. Or are those things always burning at night?"

"What?" Layla didn't know how fast she had to look through the window and then made a 'you're kidding'- face.

"And I specifically told them not to do that," she mumbled as they drove through an illuminated driveway. When she looked better she realized the lights were all torches, fiercely burning and illuminating their way to the Home.

And Home  _definitely_  had changed a lot since she last visited.

A lot.


	8. Welcome back

As far as she could remember the Home had been three stories high, and build in the traditional Japanese castle-shape you could still see at Himeji castle and Hiroshima Castle. As a kid she had walked through the broad wooden hallways, looking up at the richly detailed paintings that covered the wooden walls and the decorated ceilings. Sliding doors led her through the seemingly endless rooms, and one was even more amazing than the other. A dining room so large you could seat the whole classroom, with low tables, tatami mats and silk screens that gave it a homely feeling. Bedrooms with beautiful wooden closets, filled with kimono's and yukatas. Rows and rows of slippers that stood near the dojo, where all the members in Layla's family practised their fighting sports and frequently held demonstrations.

Layla's father had even taken time out of his busy schedule to teach both Layla and her some moves, and Gen-san who took care of the gardens as large as soccerfields always played hide and seek with them during summer break. She could effortlessly remember all the fun times she had in the Home, as everyone in Layla's family had called it.

But now... As they drove on the driveway illuminated by torches, she noticed there was a river on both sides of it that hadn't been there before. It stretched a few metres from the driveway, and then the forest appeared, standing tall in the evening breeze. Suddenly the trees near the driveway made way for a large torii, which looked a lot like the famous gateway in Shibuya, with two beams standing at least five metres tall and two equally large beams stretching from one pillar to the other. She saw two small traditional Japanese houses standing right next to the torii, and saw guards near the windows, nodding shortly as Horio slowly drove through. Right after the enormous gate they passed a large wooden bridge, which was also illuminated by torches. The bridge.... hadn't been there last time she was here, nor did the large river that was beneath it. The massive amount of water seemed more like a small lake, stretching past the walls of the... walls? 

Only now did she realize what she was looking at. Walls, at least five metres high, rose up in front of them, forming the border of what had to be Layla's house. But this border... was ridiculous! It stretched as far as she could see, and every fifty metres or so a tower rose up above the wall, in the traditional Japanese style that was awfully similair to Himeji Castle. Right in front of them was a large gate in the wall, about the same enormous size as the torii they just drove through. But this one wasn't just a set of beams, but a real gate, decorated by a whole floor on top, lit up by more torches and occupied by at least four people

The gate openend as they drove through, and she gasped when she saw how thick the walls were. It looked like a fortress!

“You have changed the mansion quite a lot,” Nishikaido said dryly as he also looked through the windows. “I can't believe you actually build walls of at least three metres thick. And are those rooms in the walls?”

“Ah, the guards who are stationed there can use those to live in for the day,” Layla mumbled. “That way the road doesn't need to be filled with small living quarters.”

“Why did your father feel the need to change his already large castle into a fortress that resembles the Royal Palace?” Nishikaido asked, although he didn't sound that surprised. How couldn't he be?! This was like she was actually looking at the Royal Palace!

“You know my father, he likes the traditional side of Japan,” Layla sighed. “And when he decided to permanently stay here, he believed the Lotus lacked prestige. So he created something that would give the family prestige. Although the government made sure he couldn't literally copy the Royal Palace. And we had to stop building at four stories, or it would have been an offense to the current Emperor.”

“Four stories?” she repeated, and Layla pointed to the left. “I meant the main house, or Palace as people like to call it in here. We couldn't go any higher or the government would've been pissed off. And sue us for it too.”

She looked and could barely catch her breath. Everything.... it was so gigantic and enormous and fabulous that she had no idea where to look. Layla's grandparents lived in a mansion that was already incredible, and Tsukasa's mansion was even greater but this... this was something out of this world.

They drove past smaller retangular buildings, all decorated with lanterns and the typical fanned rooftops with dark tiles. She saw tons of people, just talking to each other, going to random places and even little kids playing around. It felt like she was looking at a whole village that lived here, lived here, in Layla's home...

The driver took a turn to the right and drove up a hill with more buildings neatly lined up next to each other. She saw buildings that had to be houses, buildings that probably were used for storage and even a building that looked like a dango-shop! Two girls in high school uniforms waved at the limousine as they drove past, and she could recognize the style of clothing from Yeiran High School downtown. There were also students here?

“Oh, we're finally here,” Layla said as the car made a turn on the paved plaza they were on right now, and she stepped outside. The others followed quickly and they all, even the F4, needed a few seconds to look at what was in front of them.

It really felt like she was looking at the Royal Palace. The same white walls, the tiles that seemed to fan out at every floor, the windows with extra railings, the small statues on top of the rooftops, the details... only the colour of the rooftiles differed from the original since they had a strange, almost greenish colour.

“It is a combination of Nagoya Castle and Himeji Castle?” Nishikaido asked as he also looked up at the building in front of them. A stone base stood beneath the mansion, and broad stairs led to the entrance, which was again illuminated by torches.

“Hmm, my dad liked the greenish tiles more, so that's the only thing he changed from the exterior,” Layla said. “And some windows are also bigger than the others, it lets more light inside.”

“Miss,” Horio said as he gave a short headnod before he returned to the limousine.

“Ah, thanks for bringing us,” Layla said before she walked to the stairs. “Are you guys coming or not?”

“She really is a _copy-cow_ ,” Tsukasa blurted suddenly, staring up at the building. Why would you copy something? Just design your own castle if you like Japanese buildings.”

“Urgh, Tsukasa....” she sighed heavily when she heard the strange English sentence.

“Try _copy-cat_ ,” Akira grinned as he slapped Tsukasa on the shoulder.

“I.... I knew that!” he shouted back, slightly turning red in the light of the torches. He grabbed her arm and quickly pulled her up the stairs, after Layla who was already waiting at the top.

“I hope you're hungry,” she said when they were near her, “I heard they went all-out today.”

They stepped through the doorway, and she almost sighed from relief when she recognized the hallway. It hadn't changed. The wooden floors and walls, the paintings, the decorated ceilings.... they were still the same as when they were little, running around the Home and teasing Gen-san as they stole his shovel. Thinking back, Gen-san must've had tons of shovels in the shed, but he always came chasing after them when they took it, and played their tag and hide-and-seek games for as long as they wanted. 

“Layla, is Gen-san here tonight as well?” she asked curious.

“Hmm, he will be here shortly I think,” Layla replied. “He had to take care of the most outer gardens, so it usually takes him half an hour to clean up and get to the Home.”

“Half an hour...” she stammered. Just how much did they expand?

“Oh, this looks the same as the old Home,” Nishikaido said and he looked around. “You took the whole interior and put it back in here?”

“No, we moved the whole building,” Layla said like it was the most normal thing in the world. “It was difficult taking the woodcarvings off the walls, so we decided to just take a few giant shovels and lift the whole Home. That's one plus of a house without proper foundations, we could just do that. Well, it was quite a hassle actually, but it worked. After that we started expanding and building extra floors. So actually what you see right now is still the old Home.”

“I see, that's why it still feels so familiar here,” she said happy as she saw the rooms they walked past. The walls were beautifully decorated with intricate patterns of birds and flowers on silk panels, wooden statues and real samurai swords in their hilts on low cabinets. In some rooms were tatami mats, in others normal wooden floors, and the hallway itself was polished so well they could vaguely see their own faces in it.

“Miss, welcome back,” a woman near the end of the hallway said and she bowed slightly. Her white kimono shimmered slightly in the light and the flickering made the birds embroidered on it seem to come alive. She had thick auburn hair that framed her face, and she smiled when their gazes met. As far as she could remember, that was the entrance to the dining room. They had someone waiting for them at the entrance?

“Ah, thank you Naomi,” Layla replied like it was the most normal thing in the world. Well, to her it probably was. She on the other hand... “Have Tsukushi-chan's parents already arrived?”

“Yes miss, they have been here for fifteen minutes,” she said instantly. “And they have been enjoying themselves plenty.”

“Good to hear,” she nodded content. “Is my father home as well?”

“Yes miss, he is waiting for you,” she replied as she pulled the sliding door open. It looked extremely heavy, but Naomi did it seemingly with ease and elegance. Gheh, if she would do it, it would probably look like a monkey that hung on the door...

The door openend and they were welcomed by a hurricane of voices, shouts and laughter. There were so many people inside that for a moment she pushed her hands on her ears. What the....

Four long low tables stood in the room at the moment, and they were all completely occupied. There was a slightly smaller table in front of the others, and it was there that she saw her parents, who waved clumsily when they saw her, and also made some weird gestures in the direction of Tsukasa, who thankfully didn't see any of it. Uwaaah..... was this Hogwards or what?!

The chatter immediately died down when they all stepped inside, to the point where it almost became silent. Literally everyone was looking at them, and she felt extremely uncomfortable for a second.

“Miss,” a few of them suddenly said and they gave Layla a small headnod.

“Ah, I'm home,” she replied with a smile.

“Layla, you're back.”

A man stood up, leaving his place at the middle of the head table, and walked towards them. He hadn't changed a bit either. Still that slick, black hair that fell in waves over his head, ending low in the neck, the dark eyes, the dignified walk, his dark spotless yukata... the only thing that had changed were the amount of wrinkles near his eyes and on his forehead, them being the only hint that a lot of time had passed since they last saw each other.

“Father,” Layla said as they hugged each other shortly.

“And Tsukushi, I am really glad to see you again,” he said as he also hugged her shortly. “Welcome back.”

“I am glad to be back Hideo-san,” she replied, and she really meant it from the bottom of her heart.

“And here are familiar faces as well,” he continued as he shook hands with Tsukasa and all the others. “Doumyouji-san, Mimasaka-san, Hanazawa-san, and of course Soujirou-san. I am glad you could all come to our house today.”

“The pleasure is all ours,” Nishikaido said polite.

“I would like to welcome you formally as well,” he said and his heavy voice carried all across the now further dead silent room. “Welcome to the hart of the Lotus and of course, welcome to our Home.”

“Yooshaa, let's eat and drink 'till we drop!” a guy near them shouted when he saw Hideo look at him, and a thunderous cheer resounded from at least fifty mouths, the sound so strong she felt it vibrating through her body. When she saw all those happy faces, some familiar, some not, she couldn't help but smile as brightly as she could. Home had changed, an incredible change that she right now could still hardly understand. But the people, the mood... it was still like she remembered.

Like a warm blanket you pull around you when you don't feel too well, a fuzzy stuffed animal or a kotetsu, Home gave her a warm, comfortable, happy and safe feeling, like it was her own home.  


	9. Middle of the night

"Come on, I'll introduce you," Layla said as she took her hand and pulled her to a table where the guy with the loud voice and a few others her age sat. Tsukasa and the others followed close behind, and they all sat down at the end of the table.

"Sooo, you're Tsukushi-chan right?" the guy immediately said, a broad smile on his face. "Layla told me about you. Too bad I wasn't here already when you were little, it sounded like you guys had a blast!"

"Uhm yes, we did," she said, looking surprised at Layla. She had told that person about her?

"Yeah well euh, it's not like I had many other friends at that time," she said as she scratched her cheek, looking the other way, seemingly uncomfortable. "When Rogue asked me about my past I didn't have many people to talk about, so I mainly ended up telling our stories."

"Oh, that's why," she laughed. It was true Layla didn't have many friends back then, mostly because her family was 'strange' according to most classmates. Looking at her now you would never guess.

"By the way: this is Rogue," Layla said, gesturing to the guy in front of them. "He came to us about four years ago."

"Yeah, yeah, came?" he laughed. "More like she dragged me here. You should've seen her face when she came bashing through the door. It looked like hell had broken loose."

"It seems you've been quite busy the last few years," Nishikaido mumbled as he took the plate Rogue handed to him. "So your attitude when you first came here was not a fling..."

She felt Layla's hand behind her back as she pinced Nishikaido's side, but he didn't move an inch. So this person was Rogue? She'd heard Layla talk about him a few times as well. The guy had about as much energy as a truck full of red bull and was always happy. Under his deep red bangs two shimmering eyes looked at her, and it gave her and instant fuzzy feeling. Strange, normally she never felt this way this soon with someone. Layla was surrounded by unique people as always.

And not just becaue of Rogue. Next to him sat another guy, with absurd long black hair he'd pulled into a ponytail. He was about her age, but wore the same yukata as Hideo, with a black overcoat to top it off. His dark eyes stared at the ramen in front of him, and he looked completely in his own world. Suddenly he stared at  _her_ , and she felt a strange shiver going through her body. He was... scary.

"Oh, I haven't introduced you yet have I?" Layla suddenly said as she gestured at the guy. "That's Tatsuya. He doesn't talk much, but digs a game of shogi or go. Oh, and most definitely take him to a pachinko parlor. He's made me rich."

"Eh, right," she mumbled, not completely sure what to do with that kind of information. "Nice to meet you Tatsuya."

His dark eyes looked at her, lingered shortly and then he nodded.

"Ah, you'll just have to meet him a few times, he'll warm up to you soon enough," Rogue grinned. "By the way, those girls are Nadeshko and Kikyo."

"Don't introduce us half-assed like that," one of the girls said irritated. "I'm Nadeshko, nice to meet you Tsukushi-chan. I can call you that right?"

"Of course!" she said happily.

"And I'm Kikyo," the other girl said. "You can tell us apart by our hair colour, convenient right?"

"Euhm, yeah, I guess..." she mumbled as she stared at the girls. They had to be twins, they looked so much alike. Their faces were almost identical, only Nadeshko had red hair and Kikyo brown. Their kimono's were also copies of each other; Kikyo wore a light blue one with white flowers, and Nadeshko a pink one with white flowers. When she looked around she saw most people wore kimono's and yukata, and she felt slightly out of place in her school uniform.

"Are you always dressed like this during dinner?" she asked Kikyo.

"In kimono's you mean? No, definitely not," she laughed. "But when we have time to change clothes before dinner we do. These clothes are so comfortable and beautiful, what more do you want?"

"And they've got plenty of space around the stomach, so you can eat as much as you want," Rogue said as he poked Nadeshko's tummy. Her cheeks flushed a bright red and she knocked Rogue from his seat. He rolled over once, and immediately sat up again, pouting. "Meanie!" he said as he crawled back to his spot.

"You deserved it," Kikyo said. "Ne Tsukushi-chan, you also go to Eitoku right? I'm thinking about transferring there. Can you tell me something about your daily life? How are the classes? Do you have big classes? What about sports?"

For a split second she thought about her own daily life, with guys chasing her around, getting eggs and trash thrown at her, the silent treatment she got on her better days...

"Ah, uhm, it's fine I guess," she mumbled. She told them about the classes, that were slightly smaller than classes in ordinary schools. She told them there were a dozen sports to choose from, but that horse riding, fencing and golf were obligatory. She dreaded the day she would actually have to ride a horse, but luckily it wasn't until the last semester. Nadeshko asked about the teachers and she told them about some of them, including their credentials. It was strange, but if she omitted the fact that the F4 used to bully her it seemed like a place everyone would dream of. And maybe... since they weren't bullying her anymore... it would become a place she would also enjoy going to?

She glanced aside for a moment, to Tsukasa who was in an enthusiastic discussion with Rogue about the different racing teams in Japan.

"I mean, they won the last national tournament, and the one before that," Tsukasa said proud. "That definitely counts for something. Maybe I should just buy them? I always wanted to have my own racing team. The name will have to change though: how does the Tsukasa all-stars sound?"

Gheh! He was actually talking about buying the national team?! Just how rich was this guy?!

"Nah, all stars sounds too American," Rogue waved his comment away like it was nothing. "How about Doumyouji's racing team? Sounds more Japanese and pro to me."

"Hmm, good, that's a good idea," Tsukasa said, sounding happy like a little kid. That guy... She saw Layla talking to Akira about their next holiday, and Nishikaido was already flirting with both Nadeshko and Kikyo. Only Rui didn't seem to take part in any conversation, and was just selecting sushi from the large plate in front of him, his slender hands carefully picking the sushi he liked with his chopsticks.

Suddenly he looked up and smiled at her. She barely managed to smile back a little before she quickly continued eating. That was so straaangeee! And what was with that smile? That was so unlike Rui, that playful, almost flirting smile... No way, no way!

She quickly took a bite from her sushi and swallowed. Flirting... what was she thinking, Rui wasn't like that. Akira and Nishikaido were like that for sure, but Rui was different. The kind and caring Rui wouldn't do something like that. But although she started a conversation with Nadeshko, Layla and Kikyo, she couldn't help but notice Rui was looking at her a lot. And that did more to her than she wanted to admit...

Aargh, that was goooood!" Akira said as he fell back on his pillow. "Where do you buy your sake Layla-chan? This is even better than Dom Perignon!"

"That's because that stuff is overrated," Layla grinned. "We brew the sake ourselves."

"No kidding," Nishikaido mumbled, swaying slightly to the left and right as he grabbed the bottle. "The amount of alcohol also seems to be slightly... slightly more than usual..."

"About twizzeas much..." Rogue mumbled, his head on the table. "But you're good drinkers. Didn't think you would keep up with me..."

"Yeah, cause we're the great... F4..." Tsukasa mumbled, staring hypnotized into his own cup.

"That really... really doesn't make any sense," she mumbled, feeling slightly dizzy herself. One by one everyone had left the room, until they were the only ones left. When her parents left she couldn't even remember.

"Well, it's no use getting you home in this state," Layla laughed. Of all the people in the room she seemed the most sober. "I will show you the guestrooms. Tsukushi-chan, you can stay in my room. Come on Rogue, help them up."

The walk upstairs was quite fuzzy: she vaguely remembered Tsukasa's arm around her as they both stumbled on the stairs, but she couldn't remember getting into bed.

When she woke up again it was still dark outside. The heavy hangover headache reminded her of the sake and she quickly got out of bed. Before she would throw up in Layla's bed she stumbled to the bathroom, emptying her stomach in the toilet. It was very, very disgusting, but at least her head cleared up immediately after.

After a few glasses of water and a splash of it in her face she felt even better, although when she looked in the mirror she still looked like a zombie haunting the earth. Brush... She found Layla's brush and combed her hair back into place. She ate a few snacks from Layla's nightstand and picked a kimono from the wardrobe. Her mind was still foggy, maybe a walk in the fresh air would do her good. With her twisting and turning stomach she would probably end up above the toilet again if she would lie down.

She had no idea where she had to go for the balcony, so she just walked downstairs to get outside, her hand constantly touching the wall so she wouldn't fall down in the dark.

The wave of fresh air that washed over her face as she stepped outside felt so good she just sighed a few times. Pfew, this felt great! She stretched her arms all the way up and looked at the moon above her, sending her a meekly yellowish light, just enough for her to see the silhouettes of the trees and pond in the garden behind the house. Standing here, you would never guess the house was part of one of the largest cities in Japan. It just felt like she was on vacation, a vacation in her own town. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to come here once in a while again, just to escape from all the crazyness that was her life now.

"Haaaah... Being here like this really feels great," she sighed happy.

"Tsukushi-chan?"

That voice... she turned around quickly, and gasped when she saw him standing almost next to her. Hanazawa Rui.

"Hanazawa... I mean Rui, you are awake," she said surprised, immediately feeling shivers going through her body. Rui wore one of the traditional yukata the men around this house also wore, although he hadn't tied it up as well as Hideo. The dark greenish fabric was loosely draped around his shoulders, revealing part of his bare chest. It looked so ridiculously good on him she had the urge to oblidge him here and now to only wore yukata the rest of his life.

He laughed softly, his dark eyes shimmering in the moonlight. "I am. I see you're out of bed as well, Tsukushi-chan. Couldn't sleep?"

"Well no, I mean, I just had a heavy hangover..." she started, although she cursed herself immediately for saying that. It sounded really stupid, a girl that would get drunk that easily.

"Ah, I think most of us will have quite a headache in the morning," he said, walking up to her and leaning over the balustrade of the veranda they were on. "Hideo-san's sake is famous."

"I thought I heard Rogue say something about that yes," she grumbled as a new flash of pain shot through her head. Maybe she needed to get back to bed. But Rui was here... Right now it felt a lot like the times they were together on the emergency staircase, just talking about normal stuff. She didn't want to end the comfortable and happy feeling bubbling up inside her. This felt just like old times...

"I had no idea you all knew Layla so well," she said, ignoring her headache and leaning over the balustrade as well, staring at the dark garden in front of them. In the pond they heard a few splashes, probably the fish who were chasing each other.

"It's not that surprising," he mumbled lazily as he stared up at the moon. Ah, if she could just capture this moment forever... Just stay still a little longer... "If you have as much money as our parents you're bound to meet. And the Ruizaki-family is composed of elite bodyguards. All our parents have made use of their services."

"I guess... although it's strange to me that you know each other. I have known Layla since we were little, but she never told me about you."

"We were her clients. They do not talk about their clients," Rui mumbled as he looked at her. Ehm... why did he keep looking at her like that?... It felt really uncomfortable... She just smiled a little before she stared at the moon, but she did feel Rui's gaze burning on her face.

"You still like me, don't you?"

She felt her heart skip a few beats and turned towards him. Why did he say something like that so suddenly...? She felt her breath stop as well when he leaned over to her. Eh... Rui? Wait... what? She felt her cheeks getting extremely hot and was glad it was so dark outside. What was he saying and doing all of a sudden? And weren't you supposed to keep something like that for yourself, even if you found out? Something like that..

"Hanaz... no I mean eh, Rui, that's..."

"I like you too Tsukushi-chan."

"Eh?" Did he just really, like... like really say that to her?! Hanazawa Rui, the guy she has been admiring since she came to Eitoku, the guy she fell for, but let go because he liked Shizuka, that Hanazawa Rui, just announced he liked her? She felt her legs getting wobbly and quickly grabbed the balustrade to steady herself without him noticing. What was going on here?!

"What?" he said with a quiet laugh. It tingled her ears, and didn't really help her get her legs back under control. "Why are you so surprised?"

"Wha... I mean uhm... I eh..." she stammered, not exactly knowing what to do in this situation. The strangest part about it all was that he was so calm and easy-going about it. Weren't you normally supposed to... feel more uncomfortable, or more... like how she was feeling right now?! Rui didn't seem to be affected at all, as he just leisurely leaned against the beam she was leaning on and looked down on her. Darn it, his eyes were so beautiful in the moonlight... If she was to stare any longer she might just melt into a puddle of pudding right on the spot...

"So? What about it?" he said, almost in a playful tone as he leaned slightly towards her again. She could smell the cologne he always had on and it made her dizzy. Was this all really happening? The usual Rui was cold and didn't care about anything. He even complained about girls being annoying. Was Rui really...?

"Rui, I..." she started, but she stopped talking when he laughed again, sounding almost amused now.

"You really didn't take that seriously right Tsukushi-chan?" he grinned as he leaned back a bit, giving her at least space to breathe normally. But what... "I mean, I know you and Tsukasa are together. I wouldn't steal from a friend, that's not right. Too bad though, I kind of hoped you would still be free. Aha, too late..."

"Steal?" she repeated. "And Tsukasa and I are..."

"Ah! I know," he said as he suddenly got very close to her again, closing the space between them so much she could feel his breath on her mouth. It made her shiver, even though it was still warm outside. "How about we date in secret? That would be fun right?"

Was this... Rui? Was this really Rui talking to her, jesting about her relationship with Tsukasa, talking about dating him while he thought she was with Tsukasa... Was this really the gentle and shy Rui that she send off after Shizuka?

"Rui... what are you talking about?" she said slowly, creating a bit more space between them. She felt her heart squeeze as she did, and felt even more guilty. Were her feelings really that messy?

"No?" he said as he crooked his head to the side, very boyish, even a little childish, and very unlike Hanazawa Rui. "Too bad, it seemed fun to me. Well, if you don't want to, I guess I'll have to find someone else then. Good night Tsukushi-chan." He then just turned around and walked back inside, leaving her completely speechless. This... didn't just happen. Was that Rui? No... no way, that couldn't be... The Rui she knew would never treat her like that, he would never treat Tsukasa like that! What had happened to him in France? What had happened between him and Shizuka to have changed him that way?

But she was the other side of the problem. What was she thinking when he asked her if she still liked him? She really needed to get her act together. Even though he kind of forced her into it, Tsukasa really cared about her. And just like Layla said, she could just go on a few dates to see if she really liked the guy? Then maybe she would forget what Rui had said to her tonight as well...


	10. Perfect dress

"Tsu-ku-shi-chaan!"

Urgh, she still got an urge to throw up whenever she heard her voice. Even though she had 'sort of' forgiven her, she still wasn't comfortable with that girl.

"What is it Sakurako?" she said as friendly as she could. The girl had been hanging around her and Layla for almost a whole week now, and she couldn't stop chatting about the fact they all went to Layla's place without her. Even though Layla had told her it was obvious because they were all friends from the past, she still pouted whenever she saw Layla. Not that she would ever be impressed by something like that.

"I have decided," she said as she looked over her shoulder, probably to see if Layla was around. They weren't exactly best friends ever since Layla had threatened her in the cafeteria.

"About what?" She was always so awfully vague...

"Well, I know you still have feelings for Hanazawa-sempai," she said, causing her to blush immensely. How did she know?! "You're so easy to read Tsukushi-chan," she giggled as she poked her cheek. "But that's also what's so cute about you. Although I'm cuter of course. And prettier. Everyone says so, so I will keep chasing Tsukasa-sempai."

What?!

"Since you're still not sure who you like more, I will keep chasing Tsukasa-sempai, and he will notice my beauty," she said like she'd found the solution to some sort of problem. "And if he does we will get together, and you don't have to worry about liking two people anymore, you can just date Hanazawa-sempai. Well, that's what I wanted to say, goodbye Tsukushi-chan, see you in Takamo!"

Sakurako skipped away before she could even give a reply. What on earth...? And why was she so hyper? And the fact that she knew she liked both Tsukasa and Rui... what would she do with that information?!

"Tsukushi, what did Sakurako want from you?"

She almost jumped in the air when she heard the voice so close to her ear. Layla frowned when she saw her like that.

"Did she threaten you or something?"

"N-no... no, not that, it's just the Sakurako before everything happened with Tsukasa," she sighed as she calmed down a little.

"Oh? So it's not about competing over Tsukasa and teasing you with the fact that she knows you like Rui as well?"

"You heard everything?!" she shouted, feeling even more embarassed now.

"I'm not deaf you know, I could hear you from miles away," she sighed. "Although no one else was in the hallway, so you're okay I guess. But who cares? It's not like Tsukasa will suddenly fall for her because she decided to stop bullying you. She's still the bitch that tried to break you two apart, he wouldn't just forget that."

"I guess," she said, brushing her fingers through her hair, lost in thought for a moment.

"And do you still have feelings for Rui then?"

"I... I don't... well, maybe a little... But he's so different now I hardly recognize him, so it's difficult for me to grasp his thoughts..."

"Well, I think you're not the only one," Layla grinned. "You're probably one of the few people who knows what he's thinking. He was always hard to read to me. But isn't it fine to just leave him be for the time being? I don't know what has happened in France but... he's back and Shizuka is not with him. Something has probably happened, and maybe he still needs a little time to put things in order? Don't you have enough on your mind right now to also worry about Rui? You still have Tsukasa as well... and speaking of him, he kind of used me to pass on a message to you."

"A message? What kind? And no, why did he use you for something like that?" That guy...

"I met him in the rose garden just now so he just asked. Asked, instead of ordered. It was a great accomplishment for him." She laughed a little and she also had to grin. Yes, with Tsukasa there were rather different things to 'achieve'.

"So what did he have to say?"

"Hmm, he wanted to invite you to the club tonight. He said he wanted more people to know you were together."

"Urgh, great. Now he uses me as to boast. I'm not a prized dog."

"I know. I just thinks he's proud of having you as his girlfriend," Layla said with a shrug. "That's cute right?"

"I guess..." she mumbled, feeling a little happier all of a sudden. "But which club is it?"

"Eh, he called it... Takamo I think? I'm not that familair yet with the clubs around here, but do you know it?"

"Yes, I know it," she mumbled, feeling the happiness slowly subside. "That's a club exclusively for the rich. If you're not a member then you'll have to pay a ridiculous fee to get inside. And the dresscode... no way I'll have anything to wear then. When did he say he wanted to go?"

"In a minute," Layla replied as she looked on her watch. "He said he's waiting outside the school gates, so you'd better hurry."

"Ghah! Why does he decide everything by himself again!" she shouted angry. "And where and how am I supposed to find something suitable? If I just wear my normal clothes I will look ridiculous!"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that," Layla grinned as she grabbed her phone. "Ah, Tsukasa? Yeah, I'm with Tsukushi right now, but she wants to go shopping first, that's okay right? I'll go with her so don't worry... nah, don't, then it will be a surprise... Yeah, we'll meet at the club then, okay, see you, bye." She hung up and nodded content. "He has given me the 'priviledge' to take you shopping, on the condition that I will make sure you will look absolutely fabulous tonight."

"Grrr, that guy..." she said as she followed a laughing Layla out the door. "Like I don't know what to wear to something like that."

"Well, maybe you do, but it's true Tsukasa has an excellent sense of style," Layla said as she waved at a car near the entrance, an Aston Martin this time. Horio waved back and opened the door for them. "To Omotesando please."

"Of course miss," Horio replied as he gently closed the door behind them and stepped in the drivers' seat. She had to supress the urge to hum the 007-tune and pour a glass of Vodka Martini.

"I mean, all the F4 have," Layla continued. "They were all dressed by stylists from the moment they were born, and all their mothers and fathers as well. He knows how to dress himself or a woman."

"Still, I'd rather go with you," she mumbled as she stared outside. She recognized the streets, but it was strange driving through it in an Aston Martin. Normally she would just walk outside with her mom and buy groceries. She scared a little when they stopped outside the Prada store. "Wait, I sure can't afford this Layla..."

"Don't worry, I'll pay for you," she said as she pulled her outside. "I know you don't like it, but I think it's better if it's me than if it's Tsukasa right? You don't have to feel guilty about anything with me, I like treating you to stuff. And it's not like I can't afford it you know? Come on, let's get you some nice clothes."

"Ah, welcome miss," the woman at the entrance immediately said when they walked inside. She saw the woman glance at her, then at Layla and her eyes suddenly sparkled. Of course, the branded clothing. "I see you're from Eitoku," she said as she used her best blinding smile and guided them to the racks of clothing. Is there anything you are searching for in particular?"

"Yeah, clothes for Takamo," Layla said immediately. "We're accompanying the heirs of Doumyouji, Hanazawa, Mimasaka and Soujirou, so it will have to fit their level of clothing. Do you have anything suitable?"

"Oh my, if you are going to accompany them you will definitely have to make an impression," the woman said and she quickly motioned one of the other staff members to come and help them as well. "I'm sure we will be able to find something that will suit your tastes."

"I'm sure of it as well," Layla said as she eagerly walked to one of the racks with clothing. "Okay Tsukushi, let's do this. And definitely listen to them, they have dressed quite a few famous people. Oh, but if you really don't like it, don't wear it. You have to feel comfortable above anything."

"I highly doubt that I will feel comfortable in clothing that's this expensive..." she mumbled as she quickly let go of the sleeve of a coat when she saw the number of zero's on the price-tag.

"I see you're not accustomed to our clothing," the woman said kindly as they browsed through the racks together (she had insisted she would help as well).

"No, not exactly," she said with a fake smile. "My friends may be rich, but I'm not. Walking around in clothing this expensive... the thought alone is making me nauseous already."

"I can assure you our clothing is rather durable as well," the woman said with a perfect laugh. "Well then, let us get you dressed for the occasion."

"Wow Tsukushi, that really looks good on you!"

"Really? I'm not too sure..." she said hesitant as she turned around a few times. She was wearing a light blue, shimmering sleeveless dress, one that just reached the ground. The fabric had tiny gemstones on it, scattered all across her top. The fabric was tight around her torso and waist, but slightly fanned out beneath it, creating a true princess-like dress that was, at least to her, more fit to be a red carpet dress than something you should wear on a night out. Silver pumps and a clutch in the same colour as her dress completed her ensemble.

"Well, I am," Layla said content. "You just need the right jewelery to complete it. Can I have that set there please?"

"With pleasure," the woman said as she walked over to the glass case in the middle of the store and got the jewelery out. It glittered less than she thought it would, and when Layla put it on she could immediately see how perfect it looked with the dress.

"Yup, looks good," Layla said as she pulled the elastic band from her hair so it fell in loose strands over her shoulders. "Maybe a little wave would look even better... Miss Honsu, do you know a hairdresser nearby that can fix that?"

"Of course miss Layla, I will call him immediately," the woman said as she returned to the desk to make the call. The other woman helped her get off the little stage she was standing on and Layla nodded content.

"No way he's gonna look anywhere else tonight," she grinned.

"L-layla!"

"What? You look pretty and you deserve to hear it," she said with a laugh. "Now as for me... how about the purple one of there? I don't want to have clashing colours, we would destroy the beautiful image."

"Of course miss," the other woman said as she quickly handed her a beautiful purple dress.

When Layla came out of the dressing room she gasped. So pretty! And so unlike the jeans-loving, boots-wearing Layla too. The purple dress was sleeveless as well and had quite a decollete, but it looked great on Layla. Right underneath her breasts was a strap with all kinds of tiny silver gems on it, and the rest of the dress fanned out beneath her. The purple cloth was specked with lighter tones of purple on top and darker purple at the bottom, creating a flame-like look that flowed around her as she walked. She also choose silver shoes, although hers were open and showed her toes.

"Right, I need nail polish on these toes as well," Layla mumbled as she looked down. "Do you have any nail polish perhaps? I think some kind of purple or silver will work, I can't go looking like this."

"Of course miss," the woman said and she gestured something to the woman behind the counter, who was at the moment talking to what sounded like a hairdresser.

This was too bizarre for her. Within a few minutes there was a hairdresser in the store, as well as a beauty specialist, and they both got their hair, make-up and nails done beautifully.

"Ah, this feels great right?" Layla said when they were done and just looked at each other for a second. "Let's go surprise the guys right?"

"Euhm, yeah, let's!" she said with a little laugh.


	11. Between silver and mirrors

When they got to the club they already saw a large row of people standing outside. Probably people who were not members of the club and wanted to get inside based on appearance. Layla however stepped outside and immediately walked to the bodyguards in front of the entrance.

"A good evening," she said polite. "My name is Layla Ruizaki, daughter of Hideo Ruizaki. I am here with my friend to meet Doumyouji Tsukasa, Mimasaki Akira, Hanazawa Rui and Soujirou Nishikaido. Could you let us pass?"

"One moment please," the bodyguard said as he whispered something in a small microphone on his jacket. He held his hand near his ear where they could see a tiny hearing device, and he nodded. "Approved. Welcome, Layla Ruizaki and companion. Please enter."

They heard a few hushed whispers when they walked past the row of people and she quickly walked after Layla, pulling her dress up a little bit so she wouldn't stumble through the entrance. They could really just walk inside like that...

The interior of the club made her gasp once more. She had never been to a club before, but never did she expect something like this. The floors were all made from a slick, black stone with tiny silver pieces embedded in it, and it reflected her own surprised face. The walls were made of black and silver as well, although that seemed more like marble of some sorts. Many mirrors made the room look like a giant maze, but Layla seemed to know exactly where she needed to go. She walked between the richly dressed people on what looked like a dancefloor, and they all looked at her. She gestured that she had to come as well, and now everyone looked at  _her_. Eh... this was quite uncomfortable...

To her shock she recognized some people of Eitoku as well, and they all gasped or looked completely shocked when she passed.

"That's... Makino-san... right?" one of the guys said as she walked past him. Well,  _that_  felt kind of satisfying. Yeah guys, she could look like this too if she spend enough money. Well, Layla's money then. It was like she was her fairy godmother for the night, making her feel this way, having everyone look at her for a change... As she strode after Layla through the crowd, everyone made way for her, looking at them. It felt like someone had put Cinderella's spell on her tonight. Layla walked up a few black steps with lights on the sides so she knew where to put her heels and helped her up as well.

"How did you know where they were?" she asked when she saw them sitting in the back, in a space that was somewhat private by the silver screens that stood around the couches and lounge chairs. They even had a private butler to pour them drinks!

"The richer, the further in the back, that's the basic rule in clubs like this," Layla laughed as she grabbed her hand and elegantly strode towards them, taking her along. She tried to match Layla's elegant walk as best as she could, and to her content it worked quite well. She even felt another feeling of satisfaction when all of them looked at her and Layla, and just kept looking for a few seconds, even though there were beautiful women all around them. Gheh, even Sakurako was with them! So that's what she meant this afternoon...

"Tsukushi-chan, finally!" Tsukasa said as he motioned her to get closer. He patted on an empty space on the couch beside him and she hesitantly sat down, feeling the gazes of all the women suddenly turn to her, and Sakurako's in particular. Could it be... he had kept this space open for her?

"Well, approved, Tsukasa?" Layla said with a wink, and Tsukasa nodded content.

"You did a good job, you look really pretty Tsukushi."

She felt her cheeks redden a little when he said it so bluntly and mumbled a short thanks. Layla took place beside her and motioned the butler to come a little closer. The man immediately oblidged.

"I'll have the purple cocktail the woman with the pretty white dress is having," she said as she pointed to a woman next to Akira, who immediately looked back at her and smiled content. Uwaah, that was a smart way to get on the good side of those women... She had to learn a thing or two from Layla tonight.

"Certainly miss," the butler replied and he then looked at her. "And what would you have tonight?"

"Ehm, the same please," she said, having absolutely no idea what Layla had ordered.

"You still call your drinks like that?" Nishikaido smiled as he took a sip from his own drink. "It was always like that. Even your orange juice was called 'that orange stuff'."

"Well, it's not like anyone misunderstood," Layla replied with a shrug. "Like I bother to remember all the cocktails in every club. I would get a hangover just from that."

"While we're here, let's dance," Tsukasa suddenly said and he pulled her up immediately. Her clutch fell on the couch as he pulled her along with him, and she saw Layla wink before she got asked by Akira for a dance. That sly fox...

"Tsukasa, you're pulling my arm out," she said and he immediately stopped, making her bump against his back.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said surprised. "I didn't realize."

"It's... fine I guess," she mumbled, surprised by the sudden care in his voice.

"I love this song!"

She scared a little when Akira and Layla appeared next to them, and when they started to dance Tsukasa pulled her along as well. Luckily she wasn't that bad of a dancer and she could keep up pretty well with them. Thank you tv-stations, for sending the latest music videos into our tiny home. At least she would be able to blend in with the others like this.

And that blending in... went pretty well, she noticed after a few dances. The rythm was good, the people around her were also just minding their business and Tsukasa was leading her around the room with a flair she didn't know he had. This night... was pretty fun!

After a few dances they went back to their corner and naturally everyone let them pass. When they returned to their seats she saw the cocktail was already waiting for her. Layla and Akira hadn't returned yet, but Layla's drink was waiting for her as well. Talk about service.

"I'll be right back," Tsukasa said as he waited until she sat down before he vanished. More and more people started to gather around their seats and chairs, and everyone wanted to talk to one of the F4. Nishikaido didn't seem to have left his chair with all the women around him, eagerly talking to each and every one of them. Well, more like flirting.

"Say, weren't you at that Chanel shop before?" Nishikaido asked the girl in the short pink dress, who immediately turned the color of a tomato.

"Euhh, you remember?" she asked shocked.

"Of course I remember! I never forget a pretty face."

Okay, that just did it. The woman turned an even brighter color red and didn't seem to know where to look. In some ways that was amazing. She had never seen that guy in a club (like she had the money) but he would probably go home with another girl every night.

"Sooo, after the party, why don't we..."

"Nishikado-san!" she said a little angry as she stood up, pulling the girl away from him. That guy...!

"What do you want Tsukushi-chan? You're so noisy," he said annoyed. Probaly thinking she's taken his prey away for the night. That... to think about the girl like that... "Keep your paws off!," she said angry.

"Listen," she said to the girl, "if you get involved with this guy he'll get you pregnant."

"Never, never, I'm a pro," he said with a straight face, his finger in the air like it was an accomplishment. The women around him even had to giggle at that comment. Unbelievable.

"Nishikaido... please get a hint of where you are." He scared a little when Layla suddenly appeared next to him, seemingly out of nowhere. She sighed when she looked at him and then slowly shook her head. "We're at Takamo, don't do the same stuff as you're doing at other clubs."

"Wha... I eh, I don't do stuff like this at other clubs..." he started, but Layla walked past him, patting him on the shoulder.

"Nishikaido, there's always someone who knows what you're doing, so don't lie to me. It doesn't suit you."

She almost had to laugh when she saw the look on Nishikaido's face, like a puppy that was scolded for doing something wrong. She got the feeling... he cared about Layla a lot. Although she doubted if he would ever tell her. Nishikaido was as hard to understand as the other three. Suddenly Tsukasa was back, and he stared so much at her she quickly looked away. Why did that guy keep looking? That gaze of his...

"Doumyouji-san!"A beautiful woman with a very familiar face walked up to Doumyouji and laughed at him.

"Thank you for coming to my engagement-party," she spoke as she lightly touched his arm. "Ah, not at all, give my regards to Takada Hana," he replied casually, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Whoah, he's just casually talking to Miyazawa Eri like that!" Sakurako blurted amazed. When did she pop up next to her?

"Doumiouji-san, good to see you again!"

Two other girls came flocking to him, and she recognized them from one of the rich girl magazines she had seen laying around in school. Models?

"Shame on you! You haven't been in touch with us at all!"

"Don't nag," he sighed. "I'm a busy guy."

He looked up at her and she immediately felt annoyed. Why did he look this way on purpose? She sighed. Even though she hated to admit it, it was incredible. People from high society apparently mingled with celebrities all the time.

"Ah, that's Layla-san!" someone suddenly blurted, and everyone looked their way.

"Layla-san, it's been such a long time!" one of the models that had just spoken to Doumyouji suddenly walked up to them and hugged Layla. Gheh! Hug? Layla just let it happen and mumbled something like 'long time no see'.

"I can't believe I meet you like this! I never expected you to be in Japan!"

"It's true I have just returned," she said as she also accepted a hug from the other model.

"You know that woman?" Doumyouji said as he seemed slightly annoyed his little show-off didn't go as planned.

"Of course Doumyouji-san, she has been our protector two years ago when we went to Milan for a fashion shoot!" one of them said enthousiastic. "We were targeted because the photographer seemingly had some problems with the mob, but she protected us splendidly!"

The mob? Maffia? Layla had something to do with dangerous guys like that?

"Oh? What did you do then?" Doumyouji said, sounding slightly interested.

"I'm not allowed to speak of my work nor my clients," Layla replied with courtesy.

"And thank you for the compliment. Content clients like yourselves are extremely helpful for our company."

"Oh don't mention it, we'd love to have you around more often!" the blond-haired model giggled. "Last time in South-Africa was also a litte scary, my agency has deleted that destination from our work until further notice."

"Oh? What happened then?" Layle seemed to be all ears, and she couldn't help but grin a little when she saw her friend like that. For Layla, parties like these were probably also a good way to attract more clients. As she looked around she saw more people looking at their circle, and to Layla and Doumyouji in particular. Somehow it made her slightly depressed, as if the gazes that went straight past her were a reminder she was in a completely different league. She grabbed her glass from the table and drank it all.

"Tsukushi-chan, that's alcohol!" Sakurako said shocked when she saw what kind of glass it was.

"Ah, just leave me alone," she sighed as she also grabbed Layla's glass. Those stupid people, this stupid party where Doumyouji could show off to everyone. Right now he smiled, but inside he just took pleasure in showing off to her. That annoying... She grabbed another glass and stumbled a little further away, not having to listen to their conversation. Layla... even thought they were friends and Layla obviously didn't think any lower of her than the first time they met, at times like these... it was painfully obvious where she and Layla stood. And how big the gap between them actually was.

She stood up and walked away from the private area, that had turned into a gathering of more than half the people in the club, and walked to the area outside. There were elegant white tables outside and even a few luxurious lounge chairs where a few people were talking to each other. There was also a bar outside and for a moment she wondered what would happen if she ordered more of those purple drinks.

"Please... leave me alone." She looked aside when she heard the soft, girly voice, and saw a girl in a beautiful short silver dress standing there, not daring to look at a glasses-guy next to her, who had and arm around her slender shoulders.

"Come on, you're so cute I just can't resist," he mumbled as he leaned a little towards her, his cheeks flushed from the alcohol. Blech, guys like that... And what was someone his age doing in a club like this anyway?

"Want to become a star?" he mumbled. "Oh no, that's the director from Arata television," one of the girls near her whispered. "Whenever he gets drunk he starts hitting on women like crazy." "Aw, that poor girl," a guy mumbled when he saw what was going on.

"Why don't you help her?" the girl said as she pushed him a little.

"No, no way!" he said in a hushed voice. "That guy is way too rich and powerful, you have no idea what he could do to me!"

"Tsukushi?" Sakurako now stood by her side, looking at the scene in front of her as well. The man now slid his hand around the girl's waist and started pulling her away from the party, and no one dared to get close to them.

"That guy..." she mumbled as her mind started getting foggy. Stupid alcohol...

"Looks just like Tsukasa to me," she said, feeling an old anger boiling up inside her.

"Tsukushi-chan, don't!" Sakurako shouted, but she was too late in grabbing her arm.

"That piece of scum, how dare he take advantage of a helpless young girl!" She ran towards them and shouted 'You beast!' as hard as she could. The man turned around, a look of confusion on his face.

"What do you want?"

"You disgust me! Take your hands off that girl right now!"

The man did release the girl, but now he came towards her.

"How dare you talk to me like that, you ugly bitch," he said as he slightly swayed in place. Wow, that guy was totally drunk. Not that she felt any better... or was she the one that was swaying..? "Oh, I get it," he suddenly said. "You want me to touch you, right? Why else would you be wearing an outfit like that? Well, don't be shy, I won't send you away, although you're not quite up to my usual standard.."

"You bastard! SCREW YOU!" Her fist shot out, and hit the guy full on his chin. Her kick landed nicely on his chin as well and he fell backwards. Het dress whirled around her and for a moment she cursed wearing something like that. If she wore pants that guy would be unconscious for sure. Maybe she should just push him in the bushes... She wanted to kick him some more, but got grabbed under her armpits and dragged away.

"Tsukushi-chan, please constrain yourself, you might kill him." Akira's voice.

Then an applause suddenly rose up from the dancefloor inside and the garden, and she looked over her shoulder, surprised to see all the rich people clap for her. "That was amazing!" she heard from somewhere.

"You're so cool!" one of the women close to her said. "And in a dress at that!"

The girl who'd just tried to get one of the guys to do something also stepped up. "That guy always flaunts his power just çause he's a bigshot in communications! He's so despicable," she said with a look of relief on her face.

"Uhm... Thank you very much." The girl who had been harrased shyly came up to her, a smile on her face. Uwaaah, she was extremely cute!

"Ah... no problem," he mumbled, feeling embarassed standing next to such a beautiful person.

"Tsukushi-chan, I don't believe you." Nishikaido came walking up to her as well, with the rest of the F4, Sakurako and Layla behind him. "Tseesj, you and Tsukasa both. Why must you be so savage?"

"Don't compare us!" she shouted, at exactly the same time Tsukasa did.

"You say something to her Layla, she's your best friend," Nishikaido sighed.

"Hmm, you still fight well," her friend said to her with a approving headnod. "Although your technique is lacking. I might have to teach you some new moves..."

"Layla!" Nichikaido said angry, "That was not what I was talking about! She did way too much."

"You did too little,"Layla said in a tone that was equal to 'you're a complete disgrace'. "You're the ones with the highest social standards here, so you could have made him back off immediately. But you didn't. Ten points on your incompetence-scale. Good job."

"Wha..." he didn't know how to give a return quick enough and she already turned around again, disappearing in the crowd. That was Layla for you. She tried her hardest to keep her face neutral, but still grinned when she saw him pout like that.

"Tsukushi-chan, that's not nice to do," Akira said when he saw her like that. "Although it is funny."

"The both of you," Nishikaido sighed before he walked away and put an arm around the shoulders of a random woman and pulled her back inside.

"Akira, does Nishikaido like Layla by any chance?" she asked so soft no one else would be able to hear her.

"I wouldn't know," he replied almost immediately. "Nishikaido likes many women, so why not Layla? She is pretty to look at."

"That's not what I meant..." she tried, but he was already off, also randomly talking to a woman before pulling her inside. Those guys... maybe it was for the best if Nishikaido didn't like Layla. His womanizing habits...

"Oi, why are you still standing here?" She felt Tsukasa's arm around her shoulders as he directed her back inside, surprisingly gently compared to his usual behaviour. "You'll catch a cold if you stay outside," he mumbled as they walked back in. "Want something to drink?"

"I would like to skip this round," she said, suddenly feeling dizzy again. Was it the sparkly floor that got to her? It was pretty hot in here as well, and all those mirrors weren't exactly working in her favor here...

"Tsukushi, are you okay? You don't look so well," Tsukasa mumbled as he leaned over to her and looked her in the eyes. Very close...

"N-no, I think that cocktail got to me," she mumbled as she grabbed his shoulder so she wouldn't fall.

"You ordered the Purple Rain right? It shouldn't have that much alcohol... are you sick?"

"I don't know... you're asking a lot of questions..." she said as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"We euhm, should sit down," he mumbled. "You'll only get dizzy if you stay standing. Come." He brought her back to their corner and gently put her down on the couch. She vaguely saw that most of the people had left, and only three remained. Sakurako was talking to Akira and laughing, probably about something stupid and very Sakurako-like, and she had to grin again when she saw Nishikaido in a deep discussion with Layla about something. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but when she saw both Layla and Nishikaido smile she knew it had to be something funny. And to her right side was...

She blinked a few times to sharpen her focus. What was...? But she now clearly saw and it made her cringe. The woman in the white dress, who was so happily chatting with Nishikaido all evening... She sat on Rui's lap, giggling at something he said and brushing her fingers through his red-brown hair. He looked up at her, smiling a smile she did not recognize. The woman leaned forward and, just like that, kissed him. She just kissed him!

She could only watch as the woman pulled away, a slightly played pouting look on her face.

"Mou Rui, that was hardly a kiss. I want another one, a real one this time," she said in a sugar-sweet voice.

"Sure," he replied with a laugh.

That laugh was unlike Rui as well. What was he doing? Was he really just kissing a woman like that? The woman bend forward again and she had the urge to throw something. Something, anything! She looked at the table and saw an empty cocktailglass Layla had just put there. She grabbed it, feeling funny in her stomach as she looked back at the woman in the white dress and Rui. She saw their lips pressed against each other, unmistakably doing more than just kissing right now. If she just threw it right now...

"Tsukushi, I don't think you should order another one." Tsukasa's voice seemed to come from far away and she felt the glass being taken away from her hands. "You don't look too good, shall I take you home?"

"What is wrong?" Layla's voice.

"She's had too much, I'll take her home," Tsukasa said.

"I see, I'll walk with you to the exit then."

"Is something wrong with Tskushi-chan?" Nishikaido's face hovered in front of her, a strangely concerned expression on his face. His hand on her forehead. "She feels very hot, maybe she has a fever?" he asked Tsukasa.

"I will take her home now, she needs to rest," he replied. Their kind and caring voices... Tsukasa's arms around her to prevent her from swaying...  _His_  caring voice, taking care of her...

Tears trickled down her cheeks as she realized he was just caring so much about her, and she was only thinking about doing something to the woman who was kissing Rui. And what for? She had decided she would stick with Tsukasa, to find out if she really liked him, and yet she was so messed up because of him being with another woman? How horrible was she?

"Tsuki-Tsukushi..."Tsukasa now sounded extremely worried and she only felt more guilty. He was so nice to her and yet... the only thing she could think about right now was Rui...

"She needs to get home." Through her blurry vision she saw the purple dress of Layla coming closer and she felt her tears being dabbed away.

"Tsukasa, you'll take one side, I'll take the other. Make it look like she's just holding you. I'll walk a little in the front so no one can see her face." She felt Tsukasa's strong arm around her middle as she was hoisted up, and immediately the world was spinning like crazy. She did notice they were moving forward, but she didn't see anything at all. The world was upside down to her and she had a hard time standing. Tsukasa however had no trouble keeping her on her feet and Layla's blonde hair swayed back and forth in front of her face. The cool air brushed her face as they stepped outside, and within a second she was seated in a car with soft pillows.

"Please take her home safely," she heard Layla say, and then the door slammed shut and they were on their way.

"Tsukushi, how are you feeling?" Tsukasa asked as she felt the car taking a few turns.

"Terrible," she sniffed, now only feeling even more stupid for reacting that way.

"My feelings are a mess and I have no idea what to think right now or what I want, I don't know anything. I'm just stupid."

She felt his hands against her cheeks when he cupped her face and turned her towards him. "You're not stupid Makino, I know that. Don't speak so lowly of yourself. You're a smart woman."

"Tsukasa..." she mumbled and she felt she teared up again. He was too kind, that stupid...

"Tsukushi, you'll be okay, I'll take you home safely," he mumbled as he gently pulled her face closer. She felt her lips touch his', and a funny jolt shot through her body, jumping up and down in her stomach. A heat spread out from their lips throughout every inch of her body, and she felt her arms getting weak. She really liked him, liked this strongheaded but yet kind guy with his clumsy and oppressive way of treating her and his silly hair that couldn't stay straightened for more than one hour... As they broke apart and she stared in his eyes, eyes that only looked at her, she felt her heart squeeze. He pulled her towards him again, and gently embraced her, his face buried in her hair. "Don't cry. I hate seeing you cry. I'm here for you," he mumbled near her ear, and he kept repeating the same sentences over and over again, until she fell asleep in his arms.


	12. Cinderella hangover

"Hmm..." She lazily opened one eye, then the other. Her vision was still blurry so she blinked a few times to see. Last night she had been pretty sick. She did remember being taken away by Tsukasa in his car, and into the house, where at least four maids had come running to their aid. They had taken her to a room and given her some sort of warm herbal drink, and then she... what had happened next? Did she pass out?

The ceiling became clear to her and she sighed: the sparkly chandelier told her clearly she was still at Tsukasa's mansion. Did it really become that easy for her to sleep over at someone else's place? And at Tsukasa's at that... She sighed. Might as well get up and get ready for school.

She wanted to move, but felt that something stopped her from getting up. With a shock she recognized an arm around her stomach, and her still curly hair slammed in her face as she turned around to look next to her. Then she screamed.

"Ouch! Dammit woman, why are you screaming so much in the morning..."

"Tsukasa! What the hell am I doing in your bed?!"

"Sleeping," he yawned as he got up as well, letting his hand slide from her stomach. Only now did she realize she still wore the dress from yesterday. He got out of bed and yawned again. "Yesterday you just crashed here, so I let you. Be glad, this is the best bed in the house. Only the matrass is already worth thousands of dollars."

"Why you..." she gritted between her teeth. She grabbed the pillow she'd been sleeping on and threw it at his face, just as he turned around. It slammed in his face and he staggered back a bit, grabbing the back of a chair to steady himself. When the pillow dropped from his face he looked angry, really angry.

"Why are you acting like this?! It's your fault!" he shouted with a beet red face.

"How can this be my fault?!"

"W-well euhm... you wouldn't let go of me when I brought you to your own room," he stammered, suddenly sounding uncomfortable instead of angry. He was ruffling with his hand through his already messy curls and didn't look her in the eye. "Everytime I tried to get away you would just clamp yourself to me."

"T-then you should have tried harder!" she shouted, feeling her cheeks getting hot.

"You nearly suffocated me when I tried to free myself of you!" he shouted back, throwing his pillow on the ground. "You only calmed down when I took you with me, so that's what I did. I didn't even do anything to you, so don't be so annoying!"

"Then why aren't you wearing a shirt?! You were already halfway undressing yourself!"

"N-no, that is..." he said as he looked down at his bare chest, making her look down as well. Dammit, what was she thinking right now... His abs moved when he grabbed his shirt from the chair next to his bed and quickly put it on. One by one he buttoned himself up, and she cursed herself for looking, no, staring until she was finished. "I was just hot okay? You just had to have the blankets around you as well so I just... It's just shirt anyway, how virgin can you be?"

"I'm not annoying, I'm shocked!" she shouted, permanently deleting what she just thought out of her brain. He had no right to do this to her, no matter how much she was holding on to him. "Taking a drunk girl into your bed, how manly!"

"I was just trying to take care of you," he said, suddenly a lot calmer, although he still sounded extremely annoyed. "But if you can't appeciate it I will leave you sprawled on the floor from now on. If I ever see you drunk I will just walk past you and not care, is that what you want?"

"You're just twisting my words for your own convenience," she said irritated. "Whatever, I'm going to school."

"There's a uniform in the room you used last time," he said before she walked out on him.

Seriously, what had happened? She couldn't remember a thing from last night after she sat down in Tsukasa's car. She threw her dress on the ground and put on her uniform. When she saw the dress on the floor she picked it up again, gently folding it and putting in into a bag one of the maids offered her. She had to return this to Layla. If only that last half hour didn't happen, it would have been a perfect night for sure. She'd really felt like Cinderella, getting cast a spell on her.

As she walked to the doorway accompanied by two maids she sighed. Cinderella had it easy, with only one person on her mind. Whenever she thought about Rui her stomach twisted in a weird way, making her feel like throwing up. And Cinderella also didn't end in the guy's bed. Grr, when she thought of that she got mad again. So easily taking her with him just because she was drunk. She still felt the weight of his arm on her stomach, and almost unconsciously touched the spot again.

"What, do you have stomach aches?" Tsukasa immediately asked when she walked outside the door.

"No, I don't," she sighed. He was too simpelminded some times. Although it was kind of nice that he worried about her. But still... that didn't make it okay what had happened this morning.

"Get into the car., we'll go to school."

"I won't. I'll call Layla to pick me up."

He looked at her, now angry again, and grabbed her wrist. With a few big pulls she was in the car, after bumping her head quite hard against the roof of the car as well.

"Ouch! What are you doing?!"

"Just because you're so stubborn, you have no right to call your friend to oblidge her to come to you whenever you need her," he said angry.

He was so right she shut up immediately. She had been thinking about Layla without even thinking of where she would be or how she would feel... Maybe she got home really late and wanted to sleep in, and she would have just called anyway without even thinking that...

She stopped struggling and dropped her arms by her side. "That's true. You're right, I shouldn't have said that so easily."

"As long as you know you were wrong," he muttered.

"Uwaah, they came to school together!" one of the guys she remembered from the club blurted when they walked past.

"I saw them getting in Doumiouji's car last night," a girl whispered. "Could it be they...?"

"Yo." The hushed whispers and gossip immediately stopped when Layla stood before them, her schoolbag slung over her shoulder, like a guy would hold it if he wanted to look cool. Of course Layla didn't need to 'look cool', she already was. "You look good Tsukushi-chan. When you left last night I was wondering if you would even come to school today, but it seems Tsukasa took good care of you."

Layla...! Now the whispers and gossip flared up like a dry stapel of hay being set on fire, and it looked like literally everyone was talking about them.

"Doumiouji took care of her?!"

"He took her to his home didn't he?"

"And he's Doumiouji-san, so he would take action right? He's probably done that many times before."

"Yeah, but Makino-san is a difficult woman, I heard he couldn't get his hands on her last time either."

"Maybe he finally did it?"

"Of course," Tsukasa replied casually to Layla's comment, ignoring all the whispers around him. "The maids know how to create a powerdrink that will let any hangover disappear."

"And you probably know all about that huh?" Layla grinned as she slapped him on the shoulder.

"I didn't...! They didn't need to make it for me!" he shouted, suddenly sounding slightly embarassed.

"Yeah right, like I'll believe you," Layla teased him as she jumped away from his grasping hands.

"Oh? Tsukushi, so you're here." Nishikaido appeared from his own car and grabbed his coat from the driver. "I didn't think you would come to school today, you looked quite sick yesterday. How are you feeling?"

"I'm better thank you," she replied, still sending death glares to Layla. Why was she making this so hard on purpose?

"Let me guess: you had the Tsukasa-special yesterday night," Akira said cheery as he put a hand on her shoulder. "That powerdrink can cure any hangover."

"Yeah, you should know," Layla grinned as she appeared between him and Nishikaido. "You've been drinking it on a regular basis."

"I could've used one this morning as well," he yawned as they walked to the school building. "I had way too much yesterday thanks to you."

"I wasn't my fault," Layla pouted. "See you guys in the rosegarden, bye!"

"You shouted at him?" Layla was laughing again, bumping against Akira when she leaned back a little. They were in de rosegarden and to her relief Rui wasn't there. She would have a hard time facing him if she would see him right now... She'd just told them a little of what had happened last night and this morning, because the rumours had spread lightning fast throughout the school, with one rumour even more ridiculous than the other. Some were even saying Tsukasa had gotten her pregnant! Who the hell would think of something like that? "Why on earth did you do that?"

"She thought I was undressing myself," Tsukasa said annoyed. "Like I would do that to a girl that's drunk."

"You're just making up excuses," she said angry. "You could've just tossed me on my own bed and leave for your own, but you just had to take me with you. Pervert."

"P-pervert... I'm not!" he shouted with red cheeks, which made Layla laugh even harder.

"You guys,stop quarreling like a married couple and eat," Nishikaido sighed.

"And besides Tsukushi-chan, you are quite famous for clamping to people when you're sleeping," Layla said when she'd had laughed enough. "I mean, when we were little and you slept over at my house, I had no means to get you off me either. I even had to go to the bathroom with you hanging around my neck."

"That's...!" she shouted, completely not being able to remember that night.

"So I can kinda relate to what Tsukasa's saying," she grinned. "Even though the guy is strong, you can stick to someone like glue when you're dreaming.

"Told you," Tsukasa grumbled when she had no idea how to give a reply to Layla's statement. "You were almost choking me so I thought it would be easier on me if I just took you along. Don't blame me for something like that and just eat. It's annoying that you're making such a big deal out of it."

He was right, but she had a hard time agreeing with him. It still felt wrong no matter how she looked at it. She didn't want to look cheap like she did now... "Layla, when did you go home anyway?" she asked in an attempt to keep the mental mumbo-jumbo to a minimum. She would think about that later.

"Ah, Nishikaido brought me home," Layla replied as she took the drink Akira offered her. "We kinda stayed until closing time, and he was convinced he could drink me under the table. That didn't quite work out the way he wanted to."

"Just stop right here," Nishikaido sighed tired. "I still have a heavy hangover. I can't believe a girl can drink that much. There were so many cocktail glasses on the table you couldn't even see the table anymore."

"Just one of my many skills," she grinned as she took a sip from her coffee.

"And why do you seem perfectly fine?" Akira asked as he leaned back against her. They were sitting back to back and both had one leg up, like they were mirror images of each other. She still couldn't figure them out. She thought Nishikaido liked Layla, but Akira seemed to get along very well with her too. But just as friends..?

The chime reminded her they still needed to follow a few classes and she stood up, grabbing her own lunchbox and pulling Layla up. She felt Tsukasa's hand on her shoulder and she let go of Layla, who winked at her before she pulled Akira and Nishikaido along, back to school.

"What is it?" she asked since he was not saying anything.

"I ehm, we... go on a date or something?" he blurted, a shade of red on his cheeks. For a moment she was too stunned to react. Tsukasa he... he really just asked her out on a date? Asking?

"So, do you want to go or not?" he asked again as he looked at the roses instead of her. If he would stare any longer he would probably burn a hole in them.

"Uhm, yeah, I want to go," she replied.

"Okay, then I'll call you," he said before he walked away. He shortly looked over his shoulder before he stepped through the rose pergola and she couldn't see him anymore. Today... was an exhausting day again with all the rumours flying around again. But somehow... she also felt really happy right now.

A date.

And he'd asked her instead of ordering her.

It felt good.


	13. Tropic fever

“Heey! Stop looking around?! Ah! You were looking at that guy over there, weren't you?! Stop looking at other men. You look like a lecherous girl.”

Urgh... why did she say she would go on a date with him anyway... And why did Sakurako and the other girls want to be with him every hour of the day? She would die of exhaustion. And wait...

“Why did you drag me out of my house so suddenly and where are we going?” she said in the middle of the street. They were in the high end part of town in the shopping district, but he hadn't told her anything about what they were going to do or where they were headed. He was strangely pumped up for some reason and his necklace slammed against his chest when he quickly turned around, an irritated look on his face.

“Stop complaining woman, we're aleady here,” he nagged as he pointed to a store in front of him. Eh... WHAT?!

“Tsukasa, this is the Chanel store,” she said as she looked up at the elegant entree and the shimmering glass doors. “I really don't think I will have enough money to shop in here....waack!”

He just dragged her inside and she almost had to close her eyes. Everything was so shiny and sparkly she had no idea where to look and how to look. So beautiful! This glittered even more than the Prada store she went to last time with Layla...

“Oh my! What a surprise Mr. Doumyouji,” the woman behind the counter said as soon as he stepped inside. “Than you for choosing our line of wedding dresses for your sister's wedding,” another woman in very expensive Chanel clothing said.

“Could you show this girl some clothing?” he said casually as he gestured at her. No, wait!

“Tsukasa, I can't wear something like this!” she shouted surprised. Tsukasa however ignored her (when did he ever listen to her requests?) and literally handed her over to the women of the store.

“We're going to a resort so choose something appropriate for the place. And do it quickly, we need to leave immediately after this.”

“Of course Mr. Doumyouji,” the women said with a bright smile that split her expensive colored lips and showed her perfectly white teeth. “Please follow us this way.”

The next half hour was like a blur to her. Tons of outfits were thrown at her, clothes were pulled from her body and put on again and she didn't even have the time to look into the mirror to see what she was wearing because the women were already putting on the next expensive outfit. The heap of clothes on the counter grew and when she was finally released from those women she almost stumbled through the store to Tsukasa, in a brand new Chanel outfit including hat, bracelet and shoes.

'Don't look at me like that,” she said annoyed when she saw him crack up.

“What? It's because you're so pretty now,” he said, a slight red shade on his cheekbones. “If you wear what you normally wear my rep would go down. Anyway, get inside, we're leaving.”

“Leaving where?!” she said as he just pulled the bags from the counter the woman gave him with a bright smile and pushed her inside the car that suddenly appeared in front of the store.

“To my beach house,” he announced, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“W-wait, you didn't even ask me if I wanted to come!” she shouted, confused and surprised he had just taken her somewhere again without her consideration. “Where are you taking me? And I'm sure my parents would never approve of something like this...”

“I already called your parents while you were changing,” he sighed, like she was some annoying little kid he needed to take care of. “They happily gave me permission to take you along. They even said they wouldn't mind if I extended it to a week off from school.”

“Irresponsible parents...” she gritted between her teeth.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she sighed, leaning back in the pillows. The shiny bracelet dangled on her wrist when she put it in the windowsill and stared outside. She had the feeling protesting wouldn't make any difference now. And a beach house... that wasn't so bad. She already had everything with her because of that crazy shopping trip, so there wasn't really anything that would hold her back. Well, maybe staying in a beach house with Tsukasa... She felt a strange twist in her stomach thinking about it and didn't dare to look back at him. Would they go to the beach house with just the two of them? Uwaaah, no way! She couldn't handle that! Maybe she should just call Layla to ask her advice. Or maybe ask her if she wanted to come as well...

She had just found her phone inside one of the many Chanel bags that lay jumbled up in the car when it stopped and Tsukasa got out. The driver also openend her car door and she hesitantly got out, the phone in her hand. They were.... at an airport?!

The car had stopped right in front of a small plane, and the pilot stood on the small stairs that led to the plane. His face brightened up when he saw Tsukasa.

“Is everybody here?” Tsukasa asked the pilot, who nodded content.

“Ah yes sir, everybody's waiting.”

“Hey! What are you waiting for, let's go!” he shouted back at her. The driver was already taking all her bags to the luggage space beneath the plane and he impatiently waited at the lowest step of the stairs.

“What's that?” she said as she stared at the plane. Would he just board that plane? And the pilot knows him? What's that all about?

“What are you talking about? It's a plane, everyone knows that.”

“I don't mean that,” she said angry. “We didn't even order tickets! Or did you also do that behind my back?”

“Why would I need tickets for my family's private jet?” he said annoyed. “Like that would make any sense. At least try to say something smart today, you've been acting really strange.”

“WHAT!?”

She could barely breathe when he dragged her along, on the steps and into the plane. Tsukasa.... just how... just how ridiculously rich was this guy?! A private.... private jet!

Everything just looked so bright and beautiful that for a moment she could only stare. The pilot, who gave them a polite headnod as they walked past, his uniform spotlessly white, the luxurious kitchen half-hidden behind a silver curtain, the gigantic leather seats with a whole table next to them with magazines and drinks...

“What took you so long?” Sojiro said with a bright smile as they entered the plane. He sat in one of the eight seats at the back and waved when they got closer.

“I was about tot tell the pilot to just go,” Akira said as he hung in the aisle. He had taken place in a row with just four seats, two on each side. There was a stunningly beautiful woman sitting next to him reading a book, and she laughed a little when they walked past. She couldn't do much else than to laugh back, hoping it would look at least one hundreth of what the woman looked like.

“This girl just wouldn't hurry up no matter how many people were helping her get dressed,” Tsukasa sighed as he pulled her along to where Sojiro sat. He sat on the left side with two girls on the opposite side of him, and in one of the four seats on the right side of the plane was...?

“Layla!” she said surprised when she saw the girl sitting leisurely in one of the white leather seats, a newspaper on her lap. She had a pair of RayBan sunglasses in her hair and wore a light blue summer dress. Her silver flip-flops sparkled when they caught the light of the sun outside and she looked up as soon as she heard her name.

“Oh Tsukushi-chan, you're finally here,” she said happily. “Tsukasa already said he would take you shopping so I immediately went here, but to think you would take this long... was it that hard to choose something?”

“No, I...”

“Yes,” Tsukasa said bluntly as he dropped down on the opposite side of Layla, staring out the window with an annoyed look on his face. “Before that woman finally went into one of the dressing rooms...”

“But she looks really pretty,” Layla said before she could shout something at Tsukasa. “So it was worth all the trouble right?”

“I... guess...” he mumbled, again a red face. It made her feel slightly uncomfortable as well as she stepped over their legs to take a seat at the window.

“Tsukushi, I want to introduce you,” Sojiro said from the other side of the aisle as he pointed to the girls in front of him. “These girls are Hiroko and Noriko. They're from Yamanote Girls Academy.” Oh, she knew that school. It was also a school for the priviledged. And from the looks of their clothing their were also quite rich.

“Nice to meet you Tsukushi-san,” the girl in the spotless white blouse and iceblue frilly skirt said as she waved. “I've heard a few stories of Sojiro-kun already, you seem quite fun to be with.”

“I'm curious what kind of stories...” she gritted between her teeth as she saw Sojiro look away.

“And this is my girlfriend,” Akira said as he tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around, to look over the back of the seat. He pointed to the beautiful woman next to him. Uwaaah, she looked so classy in her black and white dress and... quite a few years older than Akira! Was she even single? It didn't look like it...

“A pleasure to meet you,” the woman said with an elegant headnod.

“Euhm yeah, a.. a pleasure to meet you too,” she said, feeling slightly clumsy in her expensive clothes. Her heart skipped a beat when she looked further and saw the red-brown hair above one of the seats in front of them. So he came as well... She thought he didn't come, but here he was, slumped into one of the two seats in the front. She looked at the seat next to him and almost sighed from relief. Empty. He didn't have a woman with him either...

“Tsukushi-chan, we taking off, you should sit down,” Layla said and she quickly sat down again. Taking off... she had never been in a plane before, how would that feel?

  
“Kyaaa!”

She clamped her arms around Tsukasa and nearly strangled him when the airplane started picking up speed and took off. She didn't dare to look! She squeezed her eyes shut and felt the airplane flying up, into thin air! This was scary!

“Tsukushi, just calm down!” Tsukasa shouted angry, trying his best to get her off him.

“Pfuhahahah!”

“Layla...!” he shouted and now Layla really had to laugh. “Because... it's so funny!” she said and she could hear her friend had tears in her eyes from all the laughing. This wasn't funny! “Tsukushi-chan, look outside, we're already levelled.”

She opened her eyes and looked. Right in front of her was a mass of white, stretching as far as she could see. Fluffy white coulds were stapled on top of each other, looking like funny snowmen standing in a circle. The sun illuminated the clouds and made them all kinds of purple, blue, orange and yellow, like a painter that had splashed his paint all across the sky.

“Wow, how pretty!” she shouted happily. “Amazing, I'm on a plane...”

“You're so noisy,” Tsukasa sighed as he leaned back and closed his eyes, rubbing his troat slightly.

“Where are we going?”

“You're only asking that now?” Layla grinned as she put her newspaper aside. “Didn't Tsukasa tell you?”

“Yeah, he said something about a beach house...”

“That's where we're going,” Layla replied. “Although we had to take a plane to get there. By boat it will at least take a day.”

“Uhm...” she started when she heard the words 'plane' and 'boat', “can't we just go by car or something?”

“Unless you have a hovercraft in your backyard, I don't think so,” Layla said. “The house is on an island you know? The Doumyouji private resort.”

“Priv....what do you mean?”

“Private as in Doumyouji-property,” Tsukasa yawned. “It's my family's island we're going to.”

“Family's....” she stammered as she stared at him. Luckily he didn't open his eyes, because she probably looked ridiculous right now. His family owned their own island as well?! He was really different from the other kids.

“Ah, you can already see it from here,” Sojiro said as he leaned a little closer to the window. She eagerly looked outside as well and as the plane turned to land she gasped: how beautiful! It looked like a tropical paradise with palm trees and blue sea and a golden beach and, and... there was just so much to see!

She half-strangled Tsukasa again when the pilot said they were going to land and within a few minutes she stood with both feet on the ground again. As the plane drove to a hangar at the end of the tiny airport they stepped inside two white carriages that would take them to the mansion. A carriage! 'Because that had a moreThe carriages got pulled by snow-white horses and she could only giggle as they stepped inside and left the airport. She sat beside Tsukasa, and on the opposite side of them sat Akira and his girlfriend. The other carriage had Sojiro and his two girls and Rui in them, and next to the driver sat Layla, who had taken the reigns of the horse and was steering, a bright smile on her face.

“It's been a year already” Akira sighed as the mansion came closer, it's white decorated rooftops peeping above the palm trees. “Let's unpack first and head to the beach after that!”

The mansion was like a miniature-version of the Doumyouji-estate in Japan, only this miniature was still about a third of that monsterous house. It did have more balcony's and bigger windows, which gave a stunning view of the ocean no matter where you were in the house.

“Tsukushi! I'll show you to your room,” Tsukasa said when they were in the hallway, that even had the same chandelier as the Doumyouji-mansion, although this one was also slightly smaller.

“Eh? Okay,” she stammered as they all walked upstairs to the different rooms. They did say they had been here almost a year ago, but the place felt like it was brand new. The rooms were already made up for them and the windows were open, so a gentle salty breeze filled their noses as they stepped inside the room.

A five-star resort probably couldn't be any better than this. Rotan chairs with thick white pillows were standing near the large windows that looked out over the ocean, and a soft sand-colored carpet muffled their footsteps. She kicked her shoes out and walked past the large canopy bed which would easily fit eight people and stepped onto the balcony.

“Do you like it?” Tsukasa asked as he stood beside her.

“It's beautiful!” she shouted as she ran to the balustrade. “Such an amazing view!” She smelled the ocean breeze and let the wind play with her hair as she looked up at the sun. This felt amazing!

Then, as she looked at the horizon in front of her, his arms slowly tightened around her waist, lightly pressing her against his chest. His shoulders brushed against her back and she felt the touch of his lips through her hair on top of her head.

“It's our room,” he mumbled in her hair, and his warm breath at the back of her ear made her feel hot inside.

She tried hard to find the words to say something back to him, but couldn't think of anything. Our... room? They were really staying here together? In the same room, in the same bed? It wasn't like it didn't happen before but... that was because she was completely drunk! And now, to be not drunk at all and staying in the same room...

“Tsukasaaaa! Tsukushiii! Come out and play!” Their door got bashed open by Sojiro and Akira, who both got identical evil smiles on their faces when they saw them standing outside.

“Oops, it seems we interrupted a good mood,” Akira said with the expert grin of the playboy he was.

“Wha...!” she shouted back at them and as she tried to hit them, she felt Tsukasa release his grip on her. It made her relieved and sad at the same time. She chased the guys outside of the room and almost jumped with joy when Layla accidentally walked past, a towel over her shoulder and diving glasses on her head.

“Layla, I... whoah!” She stumbled over her words when she looked past the glasses and the towel and saw what she was wearing. Or rather, what she was not wearing. Layla looked surprised and patted on her hip.

“What are you so surprised about Tsukushi?” she said as she turned around so she could see the bathing suit. It was completely black besides the silver clasp, and the upper part looked more like the top of a black bikini, with the cups being slightly cropped to create ripples underneath her breasts. The clasp was like the lower band of the bikinitop, but it also connected the top with the bottom by two black bands that covered part of the stomach. Her navel however and the sides were bare, as well as her back.

“Oh, that's the latest Prada-model right?” Tsukasa said as he also came to the hallway. “My nee-chan wanted to buy it as well, but it sold out before she could. She was really devastated.”

“I'm sorry to hear that,” Layla laughed, “but I'm content with it. And you said the south side of the island was best for diving right?”

“Hmm, you could see turtles and coral and stuff,” he nodded as she put up her thumb and walked away.

“Thanks a lot! See you at dinner!”

“Tsukushi, come on!” She looked at the other side of the hallway and saw Noriko and Hiroko waving at her, dressed in bikini's.

“Uhm, coming!” she shouted back at them before she ran inside and quickly pulled out a bathing suit to change in. It took her a minute and she was half walking, half putting on her flip-flops as she asked Tsukasa if he wanted to come as well.

“Hmm, I'm coming,” he mumbled as he handed her a large towel. “Here, take this.”

“Thanks,” she said, feeling slightly uncomfortable when she thought about what had happened just a few minutes ago. What to say, what to say?

“I'm going to change now, so you can go to the beach already,” he said as he turned around, grabbing his swimming trunks from the bed. “I'll be there shortly.” He didn't wait for her reply but instead closed the door, and she walked outside, a really strange feeling whirling inside her. Our room... was she really ready for something like that? 


	14. Trapped between hearts

“Cheers!”

They all raised their glasses at the table and took a sip from their drinks. Dinner had just been served and right now they were enjoying their drinks in the lounge, looking out on the ocean through the large glass doors that were openend tonight. A soft salty breeze swirled around them, and in the distance they could hear the waves crashing on the rocks that lay on the north side of the island. It felt too surreal to her. Just this morning she was still in her own bed, thinking hard about what to wear to a date with Tsukasa...!

“Hyaa.. it's so good!” Nishikaido sighed as he put down his glass.

“I know right?” Akira said. “It's so different from what we usually drink at the Roppongi, the Jakamo and the Azabu.”

“Aw, but I still can't believe this whole island is yours Tsukasa!” Noriko said enthusiastic. “This afternoon we went to the small village that is on the south side of this island; the village head even told us your family takes care of all of them, amazing!”

“Well, they take care of the island for us and feed the animals and stuff,” he mumbled not too interested. “The maids, servants and most of the chefs are from the island as well.”

“But still....!” Hiroko said. “There are a lot of rich girls at our school, but none of them own an island...”

“Hmm, Tsukasa's family owns about 10 other houses out of the country I guess,” Akira said. “And mine own two in Japan and one in LA. What about you Sojiro?”

“Hmm, mine are in Hawaii, Hokkaido and Monaco. Although my father is a decendant of a family that teaches the tea ceremony, he likes to live in luxury. What about you Rui?”

“My family has one in Australia, Tahiti and Okinawa.”

“Ah, and your family had one in Egypt right?” Akira asked Layla, who nodded.

“It's easy for us to have a house there, my father had to go there often for business.”

“And you also had one in Paris?”

“Paris, San Diego, Okinawa and an appartment in Shanghai,” she summed it up like it was nothing. Well, to her it probably was. “And he's looking for a house in India and Moscow as well. It will make an excellent base of operations for our business. Offices nowadays are not easy to secure anyways.”

“Kyaaa! That's amazing!” both Noriko and Hiroko were completely smitten with what they were hearing. “I mean, my father's a company president too, but he only has one in Karuizawa,” Hiroko said. “Where are your summer houses Tsukushi?”

“Erm....” Summer houses?! Were they seriously asking her that right now?! Of course she had none, she lived in a small appartement with her whole family! But she couldn't say that right? Just.... just say something, anything... “I guess my grandmother's farm counts as a country house?”

“Eh?” Both Noriko and Hiroko looked confused, but Rui just sighed, causing them look at him. She felt her cheeks getting warm and just quickly took another sip of her drink to hide her color as much as she could. These were subjects she didn't really like to talk about. It wasn't that interesting to have a summer house, but hearing them all sum up at least three locations was kind op... vexing. Rui luckily seemed to catch her embarassment by quickly turning the attention to him again.

“What does owning houses have anything to do with it? It's just stupid anyway if you're not using it,” he said. “Ours are just left alone because it's like a burden to the family.”

“Yeah, and we only have that many because we have that many personnel in the organization,” Layla sighed. “It's the same with the street we live in: it was just easier to have the people closer to us.”

Phew, the conversation had quickly taken a turn for the better. At least Layla seemed to get Rui's comment. Not only that, but they probably meant every word... Would it really be like that? That you would come at a point where you were so rich you wouldn't even care about houses and other stuff?

“Well said Rui, Layla!” Sojiro laughed, scaring her a little because he was so loud. Was he a little... drunk? His cheeks were slightly rosy and he had a strange, unlike Sojiro-smile on his face... “Although it doesn't hurt to go to a private island sometimes...”

“Okay, let's go to the cocktailbar!”Akira said as he jumped from his chair, knocking it over with a bang, and jumped over the counter of the bar. “Let me make you girls something delicicous.” He started to pour the drinks and even took the effort to put in a few flips with the bottles between the pouring, so Noriko and Hirako were fawning over him. His girlfriend did not, but she did cast a few seductive glances his way that made her feel embarassed. That a woman could look that way at a guy...

“Here you go Tsukushi-chan, I made one for you as well,” Akira said as he gave her a glass.

She tasted the drink and to her surprise it tasted incredibly good, a bit sweet but not too much. “This is so good!” she said surprised. “What's the name of it?”

“That's 'Matador', made of rum,” he said while shaking the cocktailshaker to pour another glass.

“Wow, you're really great at making cocktails, why don't you become a bartender?” his girlfriend said as she sipped from her cocktail. “I'd go to you to have a drink every night.”

“But what about your husband?” Sojiro laughed. Ehm, Sojiro.... that was not something you should laugh about and ask about so casually....

“Oh, that is no problem. He's almost never in town.”

What?! She nearly dropped the cocktail when the woman just casually replied, taking a sip from her own drink. How did this all work anyway?! Hiroko was cuddled up against Sojiro on one of the couches next to the bar, although he was definitely casting glances at Layla who sat on a bar stool not too far from him. Even Akira, who obviously had his girlfriend in front of him, was making two-sided comments to her, and she just laughed about it like it was nothing! This way of talking made her head hurt. Or was it those cocktails again? Maybe she should stick to beer or something, that had less alcohol in it...

“Rui, this cocktail is too strong for me,” she heard Noriko say as the girl sat down next to him on the other couch next to the bar.

“Really?” he mumbled surprised. He grabbed her cocktail and smelled it. “Hmm.. That must be because there's vodka in it. Here, you can take mine.”

“Really?”

She quickly turned her head away when she realized she was looking and listening to him again and took a sip from her drink. She shouldn't look at him anymore. But still... as she heard his voice, her heart squeezed tight. She thought she could get over him after he left to France to chase after Shizuka. But still...

'It's our room.'

When Tsukasa said that.... did he mean it? And there's only one bed too.... The warmth of his embrace still felt like it was there, although it had been more than half a day ago... But still, she hadn't given her answer about that yet. And that she would end up with Tsukasa like this...

“Tsukushi!”

She turned around in her bar stool and saw Tsukasa standing in front of her, two cocktails in his hands. Akira made a 'perfect'-sign behind him, so it had to be something he'd made. She looked down at her own glass: gheh, it was already empty! “Here, it's called Bed in Sheets,” he announced as he handed her a glass.

“Aarrghhh!” Akira shouted in frustration as he slammed his fists on the bar. Was something wrong? Sojiro and Hiroko also hung over the bar, and Hiroko had tears in her eyes from laughing.

“It's not Bed in Sheets!” Sojiro shouted, half laughing, half angry. “You got it all wrong you idiot!”

“Ah.... I told you he wouldn't get the words right!” Akira shouted again and they both sighed so deep that for a moment they seemed to disappear. Noriko and Rui just looked confused, not having part in the conversation, while Layla was laughing so hard she almost fell from the bar stool.

“I really can't get enough of that guy, he's too darn funny!” she said with tears in her eyes. “It's a good cocktail Tsukushi-chan, you should try it.”

“Uhm, I'll take it too my room then, I'm a little tired,” she said as she grabbed the cocktail from Tsukasa and mumbled a short thanks. She quickly walked upstairs and poured the cocktail in the sink before she sank down on the end of the bed. She really felt strange. Her heart was beating fast and she was slightly dizzy, but why... She didn't have that much to drink.... Or did she...

The door opened and Tsukasa came in, a worried expression on his face. “Are you feeling unwell?” he asked as he stood in front of her.

“Ah, I'm just a little tired that's all,” she said, trying a smile. She couldn't get any more than a slight smirk, but she was too nervious to care.

“Just lie down on the bed.”

“The... bed?” she stammered, not completely ready for this kind of situation yet. What was she going to say? What was she going to do? Maybe she should just go to Layla's room...?

“I'll sleep on the sofa over there.” He pointed to the sofa that stood next to the two rotan chairs and for a moment she sat there frozen.

“So... fa?”

“You... I think you've been misjudging me,” he said, scratching his cheek. He did not dare to look her in the eye and suddenly she felt incredibly stupid. “I told you I love you, but you haven't answered me yet. I'm not the kind of guy who would do it with a girl that doesn't like me. Well, I'm a guy, so if I say I'm not interested at all, then I'd be lying... erm, anyway! Tsukushi, you should get some sleep now. If you don't I'll force you.”

Tsukasa....

Stupid, so stupid. He had been thinking about her all this time. About her feelings, and how this situation must all be new for her. He knew she wasn't like Hiroko, who'd been picked up by Sojiro and was probably in his bed this very moment. Tsukasa was really being careful with her....

As she lay down on the bed she stared at the back of the sofa he had taken place on. He was too large for it, so he'd used a nearby chair to lengthen it. He really had a kind heart.... But she couldn't answer him yet. She wished she could, but there was still something inside her heart that bothered her...

* * *

 

A few hours later, when she was sure Tsukasa was asleep, she climbed out of bed and walked down to the beach. She just needed to get away from everyone for a little while...

She sighed deep when she smelled the ocean and walked to the sea to dip her toes in the cold water. So cold! She jumped back until she was well out of range of the water and slowly walked over the soft sand, that had also gotten quite cold without the sun to warm it. She walked past the lounge chairs and beach volley court and, without having a destination to go to, walked in the direction of a group of palm trees standing close to the water. When she walked past the first palm tree, she suddenly noticed a figure sitting in the sand. Hesitating, she slowly walked closer to the figure. Someone else was out of bed? Or was it one of the villagers? The village was quite a distance...

His silky hairs that gently waved in the soft breeze, his eyes that seemed to stare at a place she could not see.... His arms tucked around his knees, his bare feet planted in the sand.... He sat there like a statue, so silent she doubted if he'd heard her coming.

“Rui? What are you doing here in the dark?”

He didn't look too well, and did he even hear her? She crouched next to him and touched his shoulder: ice-cold! “You're freezing!” she said concerned. “You need to get inside quickly.”

Still no reaction. Did he go into shock? She had no clue about first-aid, she really needed to get him to the mansion... She scared when his ice-cold hands grasped hers, and then went past her arms and around her middle, pulling her body against his, holding her tight. She fell forward against him, and felt the ice-cold skin of his chest against her cheek. “Hmm.... warm....” he mumbled in her hair, and she felt her body getting even hotter. Rui?!

“Rui, what are you....?”

“Just for a few minutes,” he mumbled in her hair. “I just need it for a few minutes.”

“W-why don't you ask that girl to hold you?” meaning Noriko, who'd whispered to her at the bar that she would be staying in Rui's room for the night. “I'm sure she'll be very eager to...”

“I don't want girls like that.”

Rui was in her arms, all shaky and cold and small. He was the one she always yearned for, no matter how cold he was to her. This was... the Rui she had always known... She put her arms around him, holding him tight as well. He really needed her right now, she needed to be there for him...

“The days I spend with Shizuka in France....” he mumbled suddenly, barely audible above the sound of the waves, “were the best days of my life. During the day we would walk around Paris with no exact place to go, and during the nights we would talk about our childhood.... However, Shizuka went to college and at night she would work at a law office... I just stayed still from the moment she left until she came back, thinking about her the whole day.... Do you... do you still remember what you said to Tsukasa the day you confronted him?”

“Er...” Did she really wanted to be reminded of what had happened that day...

“You said not to act so full of ourselves just because our parents had money. That we shouldn't act so arrogant when we hadn't even earned any money by ourselves. You were right then, and now. Now... I still can't do anything for the woman I love....”

He suddenly looked up, straight in her eyes. This was... kind of hard to... how long would she be able to stare back into those sweet and hopeless eyes? They looked so much like they needed someone that she had the urge to lock him in her heart and keep him there... “I'm sorry,” he mumbled, sounding slightly surprised all of a sudden. “I have no idea why I'm telling you this... I wonder why... but I tend to tell you all these things. Things the other guys don't even know about.”

“Rui, you know....” she started, but she scared so badly of the sound of her phone that she fell back in the sand. That's right, she'd taken it along in case Tsukasa would wonder where she went, but she completely forgot that thing! “Oh no, the phone!” she shouted when the thing continued to play the incredibly annoying tune she'd connected to Tsukasa's number. “How does this thing turn off?”

“It's Tsukasa isn't it?” Rui said as he grabbed the phone to switch it off. “I think he's worried about you. You should go now.”

“What about you?”

“I will stay here for a little while longer.”

“I... I see,” she said, scrambling to her feet and biting her lip. She didn't want to leave him here all by himself, but if Tsukasa was awake and couldn't find her.... And what if he came here and he saw them together? He would make a scene out of it for sure. She had to go back, although it hurted her heart. Did she really care so much, so much her heart felt like it got torn in two....

“Tsukushi?”

“Yes?” She looked up, into those lonely and lost eyes.

“Thank you. For all kinds of things,” he muttered soft. “You should go now. I promise I won't stay away for too long. I don't want you to worry about me...”

“Then I'll go now,” she muttered, taking a few steps back. “Just please go back inside before you catch a cold.” She turned around, feeling her heart getting heavier with every step she took away from him. He'd looked so tiny, so broken and so lonely. The way he said he'd felt powerless... Was there really nothing she could do for him?

She walked back to the mansion with lead in her feet, shuffling through the sand like she had to plow through it. When the mansion came into view however she saw people standing outside. With an odd clump in her stomach she saw Tsukasa standing in front of the entrance, and he was shouting at three other people: Akira, Sojiro and Layla. Last one tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to her, and he turned around, looking extremely concerned and angry.

“What were you doing? Where were you?” Tsukasa shouted the moment she was within earshot.

“Euhm, what is everybody doing outside?” she said, looking at all of them. “Even Layla...”

“What do you mean euhm?! You didn't answer you phone, I thought something happened to you!”

“You know how this guy acted?” Sojiro said annoyed before she could answer. “He came into our room and started yelling that you'd disappeared, even shouting you could've drowned or something...”

“I... couldn't sleep so I just took a walk on the beach by myself,” she said quickly.

She saw Layla look at her, and at once she noticed her friend knew that she was lying. Why did she lie anyway? Maybe because she was afraid of Tsukasa's reaction? Layla sighed unhearably and patted Sojiro and Akira on their shoulders.

“It seems it was false alarm,” she said. “Luckily. So let's go back to bed.”

“Yeah, let's,” Akira said with a strange sultry voice as he put an arm around Layla's shoulders.

“Just so you know: I will be sleeping in my own room,” she said matter-of-factly. “And besides, you already have a woman in your bed. Seems enough to me.”

“But you're special,” he whispered in her ear.

“Yeah, I will probably strangle you before you will have the chance to do something funny,” she replied, sounding not impressed at all. Layla had a way of dealing with those guys...

“Sounds intersting doesn't it?” Sojiro said after a big yawn and he gently pushed Layla in front of him. “What you will do before we have the chance to do something funny...”

“Hey, I'm not about to jump into the bed with you,” Akira snorted as he pushed Sojiro, who nearly landed in one of the bushes next to the entrance. Layla then pushed Akira after him, so they both tumbled through the doorway and onto a couch. Their laughter died out as they ran after each other, Sojiro and Akira chasing Layla through the living room and the hallway on the first floor.

“Tsukasa... I'm sorry,” she said as they walked back to their room as well. She didn't dare to look at him; she could sense he was angry.

“If it's something you'd apologize for, you should've at least written a note,” he said annoyed. “It's in the past now, let's sleep.”

No, that's not.... what I meant.... I was with Rui at the beach.... She wanted to say those words, but they wouldn't come out. Her troat was shut tight as they walked back to their room and Tsukasa dropped down on the couch, glaring at her until she'd washed her feet and was back in her bed again.

She just couldn't leave Rui alone. Even now his eyes and his broken voice were locked tight in her heart, and everytime she looked at the couch where Tsukasa was sleeping it hurted. Trapped between hearts, hearts who yarned for her...

Tsukasa, I'm sorry...


	15. Game, set, match

“Tsukushi! Are you coming?”

“Hmm, coming!” she shouted from the bathroom to the bedroom, where she knew Layla was impatiently hopping up and down in her bikini, sunglasses on her head and a beach towel over her shoulder. She quickly put on her own bikini and sighed: she never had swimsuits this unique. It was a bathing suit alright, but the upper half looked more like a top you would wear to a fashion show. The neck had one black half and one white half, that joined just below her ponytail at the back. The top itself was also split in two: one half was white with a black edge, and the other half black with a white edge. The fake pockets were also in opposite colors: On the black part was a white pocket and vice versa. Luckily the part from the hips down was just black. A tiny Chanel-logo decorated the front, and she turned around a few times before she grabbed the matching black and white beach towel and opened the door.

“Oh, you look good Tsukushi,” Layla said as soon as they saw each other.

“Whoah!” she blurted when she saw Layla's bikini for today (incredibly enough she already didn't think too much of wearing a new one every day).

“What?” she said as she looked down. “Are you going to react like that everytime you see me? You're not a nun Tsukushi, you can show some skin.”

She wiggled her eyebrows and laughed. Oh well, maybe that was true. It was just that she didn't have any swimsuit at home because they were too darn expensive. And it wasn't like she just went to the swimming pool either... “You look pretty Layla,” she said with a smile. “What brand it that?”

“This?” Layla seemed to think about it, then she just looked over her shoulder and pulled the band of her bikini bottom a little to see the label inside. “Guess I guess.”

Guess, of course. She thought she'd recognized the bikini from somewhere. She probably saw it in Kariko's magazine once. The clean white combined with a red and blue strap underneath the bikini top and on the bikini bottom were really cool. A little golden clasp between the breasts and on the right side of the bikini bottom added a subtle shine to it.

“Who cares right?” Layla laughed as she walked to the hallway. “Brand or no brand, as long as it's something I like. The others already went ahead, Noriko said she wanted to catch as mush sun as she could. Hiroko was saying something about the F4 playing beach volleybal and that she had to see it, so we might go too. Apparently they're pretty good.”

“Have you never seen them play?” she asked as they took a fruit cocktail from the plate the waiter offered to them near the back door.

“No, not really,” Layla said with a shrug. “I mean, I was only with them during their last year of elementary school, after that we got separated. They used to play soccer all the time back then, but it seems they are not really into sport clubs or anything. It's a shame actually, becuase they are all pretty atletic.”

“How unfair,” she muttered under her breath and Layla grinned.

“A little huh? But it seems the girls weren't lying, look.” She pointed to the beach, where Noriko and Hiroko were shouting encouragements to the four guys, who were hitting and smashing the volleybal back and forth over the sand court. The smooth lines and high jumps they made... They didn't look like beginners at all. Tsukasa was in one team with Rui, and Sojiro and Akira were on the other side.

“Kyaa Sojiro, you're so cool!” Hiroko shouted as she jumped up and down in the sand.

“Here goes!” Tsukasa shouted as he slammed the ball over to the other side.

“Got it!” Akira shouted as he bounced the ball back up from his block. “Sojiro!”

“Yeah!” he shouted as he slammed the ball over the net, right past Tsukasa. “Score!” he shouted as he high-fived Akira.

“It's not gonna happen this time again!” Tsukasa shouted.

“We'll...” Akira shouted as he did the next lay-up for the set, “see about that!” He smashed the ball over the net, and Rui caught it just in time. Tsukasa smashed the ball back over the net, and although Akira tried to block, it went straight through, just out of reach of Sojiro as well.

“Yeah!” Tsukasa shouted.

“Oh my god, I can't believe we're watching the F4 playing!” Noriko shouted with a dreamy look in her eyes.

“Just drop-dead gorgeous!” Hiroko squealed.

They really were amazing. Although she would never say that to their faces. The ego of those four...

“Looking good, those four,” Layla said when they were standing next to the girls under a few parasols. “Where's Yuri?”

“Here,” a lazy voice sounded from their right. Yuri lay on one of the tan beds in a black bikini, her body completely stil in the sun, a magazine next to her on a small white wooden table.

“Oh, getting a tan?” she asked when she saw the slightly brown color that was already appearing on the woman's skin. So jealous, she took way longer to get a tan... “You should loosen the bands on your shoulders though, you'll get a difference in skin tone.”

“Hmm, Akira loves the difference in skin tones, especially on my chest and hips,” she mumbled, her eyes closed against the sun. “He says it makes him excited.”

“Uh....” Uhm... what? She felt her cheeks becoming bright red as Layla just laughed.

“Maybe I should do some tanning today as well,” Noriko sighed as she looked at her own white and blue bikini, pulling at one of the bead-bands on her shoulder. “I'm starting to lose my confidence a bit.”

“Why? You are a pretty girl, what do you have to worry about?” Layla said as she patted the girl on her shoulder. Noriko seemed happy to hear it, but still slumped as she looked at the guys.

“Last night Rui just left and didn't come back. When I woke up again he was already downstairs reading. I just …. I just don't know how to get his attention. Sojiro said Rui would surely be interested in me, but now I'm not so sure anymore.”

She felt her cheeks getting warm again and was glad the sun shone so bright today. She was probably the only one who knew were Rui went yesterday... A thought that gave her a funny feeling in her stomach. She felt Layla's eyes on her as her friend gently brushed through Noriko's hair. 

“Ah, the guy just needs some time to get used to you,” Layla mumbled as she ordered a waiter to bring the girls as fruit cocktail as well. “He's just a bit shy, that's all. I mean, when I first met the guy it took him three days to say something to me. But hey, once he talks to you, you belong in the tiny circle of people he actually likes. That's something.”

“I... I guess,” Noriko mumbled, sounding slightly happier.

“Shoot!”

Their attention got pulled back into the match, where Tsukasa had just scored a point.

“That was just luck man!” Akira shouted, brushing the sand from his hair as he scrambled on his feet again, the ball in his hands. “Wait till you taste this one!”

“They're so dreamy,” Hiroko sighed as she sat down in a chair under a parasol and sipped from her drink. “I can't get enough of watching them.”

“Hey, Tsukushi and Layla have arrived,” Akira said when he looked in their direction. “Hey girls! Wanna play?”

“No, I'd rather watch you all,” Hiroko shouted back giggling.

“Hmpf, I want to play,” she said as she slammed her fists together. A match... she wasn't too bad at beach volleybal either.

“Oh, I like the look in your eyes,” Layla grinned as she put up her thumb as well. “Count me in!”

“Yoosha! Then we'll have two extra players, great!” Akira said. “Who goes where?”

“Since I want to beat you, I guess I'll be teaming up with Rui and Tsukasa,” Layla said as she high-fived Tsukasa and gave a fist-bump to Rui, who smiled at her.

“Then you better bring your a-game,” Tsukasa said as he grabbed the ball from the ground. “Wanna go first?”

“Oh yeah,” Layla said as she walked to the line to serve. She in the mean time had taken place before Sojiro and Akira and was all ready to return whatever Layla could come up with.

“Okay, here I come!” she shouted as she threw the ball high in the air, and jumped after it. She smashed the ball lightning fast across the next, and it landed right between Akira and Sojiro, who were too late in catching it.

“Wauw Layla-chan, you're amazing!” Noriko shouted, and Hiroko was cheering as well.

“Score!” Layla jumped in the air again and winked at her, and now she got only more determined to beat her.

“Dammit, we can't let them beat us again,” Akira said as he grabbed the ball from the ground, ready to serve it.

“We won't,” she said, feeling a giant bubble of energy surging through her.

“Okay, then let's do this!” He jumped in the air, quite the same way Layla just did, and jammed the ball to the other end of the field. Layla caught it with her wrists and send it up, positioning it perfectly for Tsukasa to slam the ball down on the other side of the net. She dived and managed to bounce the ball back up. She jumped to her feet while Akira tossed the ball back towards her again, and she smashed it across the net again. This time it flew right past Tsukasa's left leg and Rui was too late in catching it with his wrist, so the ball smashed into the sand.

“Yes!” She jumped, and got slaps on the back from both Akira and Sojiro.

“Right on Tsukushi-chan!” Akira shouted. “You knocked them back!”

“Let's keep this up!” Sojiro said as he send a wink to the other side of the field. Layla stuck out her tongue and tossed the ball to Rui, who was up to serve.

“Oh my god you're so cool!” Hiroko shouted. Her hair was a mess and she was jumping up and down like an enthusiastic squirrel, the fruit cocktail in her hand heaving dangerously towards her. Her skin was already quite brown as well, making her pink bikini with frills standing out even more.

“Keep it up all of you!” Noriko was shouting as well, and waving whenever one of the teams got a point.

Right now they were tied, but they were also getting tired. It had been one tough match, with the teams balancing each other out pretty well.

“So, this round the last one?” Sojiro said, batting his forehead with a towel.

“Why not, we've been playing for quite some time now,” she mumbled as she gulped down a bottle of water. She looked over her shoulder to the other team, that seemed to be in a discussion about something. Tsukasa looked surprised, even slightly shocked, while Rui was talking and Layla was putting something in Tsukasa's hand. Huh? Layla looked agitated for some reason...

“Guys!” Sojiro shouted and they all looked up. “Last round okay?”

“Okay!” Layla shouted back.

“Loser has to obey one command from the winner!” Akira said, a bright smile on his face.

Huh? Wait... wasn't that slightly.... dangerous around these guys...!

“Fine!” Layla shouted back. “But commands are only clear after the winners are decided. And one command for each person, so the team has to decide who can command who.”

“Clear!” Sojiro said jolly, and he patted her on the back. “Come on Tsukushi, we gotta win this." 

“No kidding....” she sighed as she walked back to the field, where Akira was already waiting.

“Let's do this!” he shouted as he threw the ball high in the air, to smash it over the net at a frightening speed. Where did that guy suddenly get all the energy? Tsukasa managed to catch the ball with his wrists and send it upwards again, although it didn't go as high as she'd expected. He could do better than that, why did he send such a ball to Layla? She however didn't seem to have a problem with that, because she smashed it over the net through Akira's block. It flew over his head and sailed towards the end of the field, but Sojiro caught it with one wrist and send it upward again, towards her.

“Tsukushi, get it!” he half shouted, half coughed as he landed in the sand.

“Got it!” she shouted as she jumped. She saw a spot near Tsukasa and aimed it. With a dull bump her hand made contact with the ball, and it flew over the net towards him. He... didn't move. He just stared seemingly to nowhere and even his hands just hung uselessly by his side.

“Tsukasa!” Layla shouted as she ran after the ball, trying to get it. She jumped the last part and tossed the ball backwards without even looking, before she pushed her hands against Tsukasa's chest to prevent them from colliding. A useless effort. The force of her jump was so large she just pushed Tsukasa from his feet as well, so they both dropped on the ground. Rui in the mean time managed to get the ball over the net again, but Sojiro immediately smashed it back again. The ball flew towards Layla and Tsukasa, who weren't on their feet yet. Layla was on her hands and knees and hovered above Tsukasa, who still lay on his back and didn't move. Oh no, the ball!

“Layla, watch out!” she shouted, but the ball already hit her full between her shoulderblades. She fell forward again on top of Tsukasa, shouting a few cursewords.

“Dammit guys! Can't you see there's something wrong with him?!”

What? Tsukasa? They all ran to the other side of the court, and Noriko and Hiroko came as well, worried looks on their faces. Hiroko threw a drenched towel at Layla, who put it over his head and splashed some water in his face.

“Tsukasa, wake up man!” Akira said, sounding concerned.

“Maybe he got a stroke or something?” Sojiro mumbled as he patted Tsukasa's cheek. “Hey man, wake up.”

Suddenly he opened his eyes and sat up, a strange expression on his face. “Are you alright?” she asked him as she sat down on her knees beside him. He looked at her with one of his penetrating stares she could feel in her bones, but didn't say anything. Then he suddenly stood up and walked to one of the tanning beds under a parasol.

“That seems like the best idea,” Layla mumbled concerned. “Maybe he does have a stroke, he doesn't seem to be completely back yet.”

“Yeah, you kinda knocked him out,” Akira grinned, and he had to evade a fistful of sand aimed at his face.

“I didn't jump into him on purpose,” she said cranky. “Besides, he was already like that before I hit him. I didn't think you could faint while standing though...”

“Well, that's Tsukasa for you,” Sojiro said like it was the most logical explanation.

“He is not the leader of the F4 for nothing,” Akira agreed.

“It seems like you've all hit your heads,” she sighed. “I'm in for a break.” 

 


	16. Truth and lie

“Tsukasa, are you feeling better yet?” she asked about half an hour later. Layla had continued the game with the other three, but she didn't feel like playing anymore, it was way too hot. The sun shone brightly and scorced the sand, making it difficult to walk without slippers or shoes. With a fruit cocktail and a comfortable lounge-chair in the shadows she had no plans getting up any time soon.

“Pass Rui, pass!” Layla shouted as Rui dived for the ball Akira had smashed across the net. He barely got it and bounced it back up, to Layla who could smash it back towards Sojiro. He was too late in catching it and Rui and Layla gave each other a high-five. They were both sweating a lot, maybe she needed to bring them some water... She saw sweatdrops trickling down Layla's forehead as she patted Rui's shoulder. He smiled at her before he took his position near the net. His tea-colored hair stuck to his cheek and he wiped it away, bending his knees slightly so he was ready to catch whatever Sojiro was going to throw at him. The sun had already browned his skin slightly, and the concentrated look in his eyes gave her shivers, even though it was suffocatingly hot outside. That intense look definitely belonged to the old Rui, but she had never seen it before. Somehow she felt glad she had discovered yet another side of him...

“Hmm,” Tsukasa mumbled, and she felt her stomach bounce up and down when she realized that for a few seconds she'd completely forgotten he sat next to her. “Don't you want to play anymore?”

“No, I'm fine like this,” she sighed as she leaned back. She was too tense. It was just a game she was looking at, he wouldn't see she was looking at Rui so much...

“Okay,” he said as he also leaned back in his chair. Then he suddenly sat up again and turned over to her. “Oh, you forgot this by the way.”

He grabbed something from the pocket of his swimming trunks and when he handed it over to her she saw to her surprise it was the phone he gave her. How did he...? She didn't remember putting it in her nightstand after she came back from her talk with Rui...

“It was on the floor of our room,” he said with a shrug, although he was still looking at her with that strange stare of his.

“Oh, thanks for grabbing it,” she said as she put it on the table next to her. “I knew I lost it in my room somewhere and I couldn't find it anywhere. I got worried I lost it.”

“I see,” he mumbled, leaning back and closing his eyes. “I see.” 

His voice sounded strange as well, but she didn't pay too much attention to it. Tsukasa was always switching between extremely happy and angry moods, so this would probably be just like that. Instead she also closed her eyes and tried to catch up some sleep from the night before.

* * *

“Yohui, let's drink and party 'till we drop!” Akira shouted as he raised his glass, probably for the fourth time already. After dinner they had all changed into light dresses and pants and were lounging near the swimming pool at the back of the mansion. The waiter who had brought them their fruit cocktails during the day, was now standing behind the beach bar next to the swimming pool, mixing drinks and serving small snacks.

“Cheers!” the girls all chimed in, even Yuri, before they lightly tapped their glasses against each other and took a sip. She had been careful while selecting her cocktails, and this time she had asked the bartender for one without alcohol. She didn't want a certain night to be put on repeat...

“Sooo..... although Tsukasa passed out in the end, a win is still a win,” Akira said as he laughed at Layla and Rui, who looked at each other but didn't say anything.

“I guess it is huh?” Sojiro said as he put his arms around them. “A win is still a win. And I will carefully think of what I want from one of you before I'll let you know.”

“Ah, we have to devide who gets to order around who as well,” Akira said. “Although Tsukasa is already taken, right Tsukushi?”

She nearly choked on her drink when she heard it and tried to get her breathing back, heavily coughing. “Xcuse me?” she barely managed to cough.

“Well, since you're his girl it's only right for you to demand something from him,” Akira said with a headnod. “Besides, we know you won't be asking ridiculous things of Rui and Layla anyway since you're way too nice to them, so you're not getting one of them.”

“Great to hear your plans for us,” Layla snorted. “You've already marked my back, don't you think that's enough?”

“Hey, that was Sojiro, not me,” he grinned. “Besides, isn't it gone already?”

“Hell no, look,” she said as she tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. Her white beach dress had an open back, and between her shoulderblades you could still see a slightly red spot, although it had gotten lesser during the day. “Do you even know how much it hurted? Like someone had put a red-hot plate on my back.”

“My apologies,” Sojiro said as he gently pressed his hand on her back. “It hit quite hard I see. Let me heal it for you.” He bend forward and pressed his lips on her back. She nearly dropped her cocktail, and Hiroko looked like she had been hit by a hammer. There was a strange silence around the bar, and for a moment no one knew exactly what to say or how to react. Sojiro, the usual so composed Sojiro, that always kept a polite distance between him and Layla, he was now...?

“Well, well, Sojiro....” Akira said with a voice that clearly stated he was enjoying this to the fullest, “Are you making a move on our Layla here?”

“I just took responsibility for my actions,” he mumbled as he put his arms around Layla's shoulders and leaned heavily on her. Rui just sighed and shook his head, a slight smile on his face.

“I can tell,” Layla sighed as well and patted him on the head. “You've been hiding it pretty well until now. We're on our fourth cocktail I guess, but you've been here quite a bit earlier than we haven't you? Do you even know how many?

“D-dunno....” he murmured in her ear. “Does that matter? I think I know what I want from you.... the bet...”

“Yeah, I think I'll add to that rule that you shall be sober by the time you tell me what you want,” she sighed as she walked to the nearest couch and sat down, with Sojiro next to her, still leaning on her shoulder.

“That's unfair,” he mumbled and he started to sound drowsy.

“You'll thank me in the morning,” she sighed and she gently stroked the hairs from his forehead. She kept brushing her fingers through his hair, very lightly, and he closed his eyes.

“That... feels nice.....,” he murmured. Within a minute he was sleeping and Layla put him on the couch, a pillow under his head.

“Don't worry , occasionally he has this strange urge to get attached to the first person he sees when he's drunk a certain amount of alcohol,” she said to Hiroko, who could only nod. “He'll wake up in a little while, you should stay with him.” The girl did as she was asked and Layla walked back to the bar, where they were all standing, still a bit sheepish looks on their faces. She quickly took another sip from her drink to not look stupid in her friend's eyes.

“Occasionally?” Akira said, bright sparkly eyes. He had been smiling from ear to ear while all this was happening. Sojiro probably did that many, many times while they were out clubbing, the two of them.

“Yeah well, it's not like I could stay silent,” Layla mumbled soft. “I didn't want a giant drama to develop while everyone is still celebrating their holiday. Besides, if I told Hiroko he is like this every night he is drunk she would swim home crying don't you think? At least for now she thinks she's important to him.”

“What if it wasn't an act because he was drunk?” Akira winked, but Layla just waved it away.

“It would sound plausible if it was anyone other than you two. He'll probably regret what he did tonight anyway, there's no need to make it worse. Right Tsukushi?”

“Uhm, yeah, right,” she mumbled, not completely sure what she was agreeing about here. She actually thought Akira had a point there. Maybe Sojiro... liked her? As in really liked her? Although Layla didn't even see it as a possibility... And on the other hand, he was a player in heart and soul...

“Noriko, what do you have here?” Akira was already on another subject, talking to Noriko, who had a foreign magazine in her hands and seemed to have missed their whole conversation. Maybe for the best...

“Oh this?” she said happily. “I bought it before we went here. It has all the gossip... I mean all the news of everyone who matters in it.”

“Hah?” Tsukasa grabbed the magazine from her hands before she had any chance to show it to Akira and frowned when he saw the article. “Why is Shizuka in it?”

“Huh? Really? Let me see,” Akira said as he grabbed the magazine from it and started to read it. She looked over his shoulder and saw a large picture of Shizuka with some guy. But what shocked her most was the title of the article: 'Hot news! Shizuka Todou is getting married?!'

“Married?!” she shouted surprised, and she grabbed part of the magazine to read further.

'Both parties have not admitted it yet, but the rumours are getting stronger every day. Albert Beaulieu, party member of the democrats and surely to become the leader of the party next year, has already admitted he proposed to miss Todou, but so far she has been persistent in her silence. Mister Beaulieu however stated that he fancies her and will definitely ask for her answer soon.'

“Whoah, that's a big deal!” Akira blurted when he'd read the whole thing. “Even I know this French dude. He's definitely going to become party member, and the French say he's to become a candidate for presidency as well. I expected nothing less from Shizuka-chan.”

Marriage.

Her head snapped up, looking around, searching for him. His face, did he know? Had he known?

“Did you know this Rui?”

Tsukasa's blunt question was like a hammer thrown at Rui, and she felt the awkwardness of it hanging in the air. Everyone seemed to hold his or her breath as Rui turned towards them. To let it escape a few seconds later.

It was his normal Rui-smile.

“Hmm, I knew,” he said with a shrug. “What about it? Nothing less for Shizuka right?”

No, it wasn't his usual smile. She realized it as she looked at his eyes. They were not his normal 'don't care about anything'- eyes. His eyes were the same as she saw last night on the beach, when he'd stared to the sea but seemed hundreds of miles away. Now she knew why. Of course she already knew he thought about Shizuka, all the time, but this...

She might marry some other guy. Someone other that Rui. It just... it felt not right, somehow. She'd let him go, even urged him to go after Shizuka, and now... He'd come back, which had made her incredibly happy, but to know the reason behind his return and the way he was looking right now...

“Oh, then it's okay I guess.” Tsukasa broke the silence and gestued Rui had to come over to their spot at the bar as well. “Come, drink. You'll need a few I guess.”

Rui just smiled and walked over to him, to take place between Akira and him. Even thought he was so near now, he felt lightyears away from her right now. Last night she thought he was back again, back to the usual Rui whom she knew and cared about but...

Rui looked up at her and smiled. It was not his real smile. “What are you looking so funny for Tsukushi-chan?” he said as he grabbed her cocktail and smelled it. “What's this?”

“Uhm... the bartender said a mango, cocos -cocktail,” she stammered, barely able to think of something to say.

“Hmm? Is it good? Let me taste it.”

He took a sip from her drink and handed it back to her, laughing. “That's way too sweet for me. Are you that much of a sweet-tooth?”

“Maybe a bit...”

“Oi Rui, you should taste this one!” Akira said as he handed him one of his own cocktails. He had taken place behind the bar again and was giving away a show with the bartender, being cheered on by the other girls and Layla. “This one has a nice old rum in it, you'll definitely like it.”

The converstation strayed towards one about the best cocktails and she dared to breathe again. She wanted to take a sip from her drink, but saw Tsukasa glare from the corner of her eye and put it on the counter instead. Right, Rui had drank from it too...

* * *

 It had gotten really late again. She fell back into her soft pillows and sighed. Although she was tired, she couldn't really sleep. What she found out about Shizuka and Rui... It kept bouncing up and down in her head, not wanting to disappear. Maybe she didn't want it to disappear either. The way he'd looked at her last night... now she knew why, and how much it had to hurt him as well. Her troat and heart tightened, thinking back to his eyes...

She just... had to talk to him again. Tsukasa was fast asleep, so she opened the door as quietly as she could and walked down to the beach. When she saw the palm trees her heart started to beat like crazy. She really wanted to see him again, but what would she say? What could she do to help him? Her feet moved her forward, but her mind was not prepared yet. What could she do...

“Tsukushi-chan....”

His voice when he saw her. She saw his face, a painful mix of desperation and hopelessness in those beautiful eyes.

“Rui....”

His name barely escaped her mouth as she dropped down on her knees and embraced him tightly, feeling his cold body against hers warmed up by the blankets in the mansion. Rui. Rui needed her. And maybe, somehow, she needed him as well.

 


End file.
